No Rest for the Wicked
by K. M. Mac
Summary: When the unthinkable happens to Amestris' two most well known alchemists, no one knows how to react. Will things ever be normal again? Or will the wicked rule? MU/Adult Edward.
1. Vessel

**Authors Note:** Alright, so this story is from the work of four great minds (mine included~!).

It is from a roleplay that I wanted to put into story format, only because it is so cool. xD I will tell you that I am currently working on revamping my writing style, and that this story gets started off very quick, mostly because it is a roleplay, although I have changed and added things; just because I have my own little idea for how this story will end.

Anyways, I won't keep you any longer—enjoy chapter one!

* * *

**Chapter one**

"Ed!"

Golden orbs flickered open as Edward Elric sat up straight on the leather couch he had been laying on in the living room, that was until he heard Tess Michaels' mezzo-soprano voice call his name from the kitchen. Tess was a foreigner from Lior, a friend of Alponse's that happened to be the same age as himself, twenty-one, and was interested in studying alchemy. So Alphonse, being the amiable person that he was, offered for her to come and stay with them in Central, which was…alright for the most part…Tess and he had completely opposite personalities that clashed at the wrong times. "What?" He called, refraining from moving from the couch until he knew what she wanted.

"Phone is for you!" She said, setting a black cordless phone down on the counter in order to free her hands up to continue making dinner for herself.

Raising a slender brow, Edward set his book down on the oak coffee table and brushed his hands off on his fitted black shirt before standing. Walking out of the study, he casually walked down the hallway, only to deviate from his path when he reached a doorframe that led into the kitchen. "Who is it?" He asked and walked in, moving to the counter to rest his forearms on its surface and lean over it.

Turning her head to focus a pair of jade eyes on Edward from the sink, Tess lifted her shoulders in a shrug. "They didn't say—all I know is that it's a man." The brunette explained, reaching for a paper towel to dry her hands off before leaving the kitchen.

Frowning, Edward hesitated before picking up the phone and placing it up to his ear. "Hello?" he asked, glancing at Tess' slender form briefly as he moved to lean his hip against the counter, resting his right hand in the front pocket of his faded jeans.

"Lieutenant Colonel Edward Elric? This is Major Greg Sanders." A male's voice began, "I'm sorry for calling this late, but I have an urgent message I was told to give you."

Although the name of the man was unfamiliar, Edward willingly allowed himself to continue the conversation. "Okay. Well…spit it out." He said, his eyebrows knitting together. There was the sound of paper being shuffled around before Greg drew in a deep breath.

"As I'm sure you are very good friends with General Mustang, Major General Yamasaki has found it imperative that you are aware that he has been missing for over twenty-four hours, and that Major General Yamasaki will be recruiting a team to go out on a search, and would like to extend the invitation to you." Greg replied, his voice formal; like he was reading this message from a sheet of paper with dialogue prepared on it.

Edward's face hardened, his lips pressing into a tight line. Had he heard that correctly? Mustang was missing? He had just seen the bastard the other day—where had he disappeared to in such a short amount of time? Golden orbs shifted to the calendar that hung on the front of the wall near he sink. Nope, it was not April first, so no joke here. Besides, would this really all be fake with this Major Greg Sanders calling him? Typically all pranks were pulled off by Riley Grant and Kyle Miller.

"Sir?"

Shaking himself from his thoughts; Edward cleared his throat and dropped his gaze to his feet. "Tell Lieutenant General Yamasaki I said I will be going on my own to look for General Mustang." Edward finally said, his tone remaining collected, even though he was now gripping the phone so tightly Edward thought he had heard the plastic crack.

"Yes, Lieutenant Colonel." Greg complied before shortly ending with a "Goodbye," and hanging up; he seemed rather rushed…probably had more phone calls to make, Edward assumed. Placing the phone back on the receiver quickly, Edward swiftly walked out of the kitchen and back down the hallway.

Having been eyeing Edward from the doorframe after leaving the kitchen just before, Tess frowned and quickly followed after Edward. "What was that all about?" She asked, jogging down the hallway to catch up with him, "Did something happen at Headquarters?"

Briefly looking at Tess, Edward looked a bit torn; it was either tell her and have her involve herself in something she did not need to, or have her remain ignorant and take care of things himself. Besides, if Mustang had been missing due to the work of people that were not safe to be around, then he did not want to risk the chance of someone else close to him getting hurt.

"Don't worry about it," He said as assuring as possible, "Mustang just needs some help, so I'm going up to Headquarters to do that."

Tess made a face as she followed Edward into his bedroom, "Since when do you willingly help Mustang?" Frowning slightly, Edward went over to the nightstand and opened up one of the two drawers there.

Pulling out his silver pocket watch and M1911 Colt, Edward then closed the drawer and turned back around to look at Tess. "He just really needs the help, that's all," the Elric lied again as he started toward the hallway again, though this time Tess was blocking his path.

"Tell me what it is," She demanded, crossing her arms over her chest like a three year old. Letting out a sigh, Edward stopped in front of her, lifting his left hand to slide through his long blonde hair that had been tied back into a ponytail.

"I can't tell you," Edward inwardly grimaced at the hurt expression Tess wore after he said that, "But I promise I'll be back soon, okay? When Al gets back from the library, tell him that you two can start the research without me."

"But—"

Edward put up a hand to stop Tess before she got going. With that same hand, patted her shoulder before gently pushing her aside. "Quit worrying and enjoy your time here. I'll even give you some money for Al and you to go out if you really don't want to start." He said, pulling a few twenties from the front pocket of his jeans and waving them at her.

With a reluctant sigh, Tess waved him off, "No, no, go kiss up to Mustang." She intoned, turning around to start toward the study, earning a scowl from Edward. Biting his tongue because he knew that once they got arguing, he would never be able to leave, the Elric turned, stuffing the money and his pocket watch into the front pocket of his jeans and placing his pistol in the back of his pants. Hiding it underneath his shirt, his walk turned into a jog down the hallway as he made his way toward the front door, which he opened and hurried out of.

* * *

Ignoring the blank stares officers gave him as he hustled up the staircase to the second floor; Edward quickly ran his options over in his mind as far as acting on Mustang's disappearance. One, sit back and do didly squat. Two, tell people to go do stuff for him. Three, go find Mustang on his own, or four, find Riza and get her help. Although Edward did not want to drag Riza along with him on a private search, Edward knew he would need help with this one, especially with Alphonse off doing his own thing. Once reaching the correct level, Edward jogged down the hallway, taking the right turn up ahead before stopping outside Mustang's familiar office.

Taking a moment to catch his breath, Edward drew in a deep breath before lifting his right hand, making his automail hand into a fist before knocking on the door. "Riza?" he called from outside the door, "It's Edward, are you in there?"

The door swung open almost instantly to reveal a more sober-looking than usual Riza Hawkeye, causing Edward to blink a couple of times in surprise. Without a word she opened the door wider and stepped away to stand at her desk, pushing a few papers around before apparently finding the one she needed. Crossing her legs at the ankle, Riza leaned back and sat on the edge of her desk, reviewing the writing on the document. Edward had closed the door before following the Lieutenant, and had come to a halt in front of her desk.

"So what do I need to know?" He asked, moving to fold his arms over his chest. There was no need to tell her what he was talking about—Riza would know.

She sighed heavily, "The General didn't show up for work this morning and after an hour I called his apartment and received no answer. Breda was sent to his home and also received no answer. Shortly after Breda returned to the office I received a call informing me that the General had not shown up for an evening appointment with an ambassador last night. I immediately went to his apartment myself and confirmed that General Mustang had not returned home that day," No mention was made of how she made entry, "I asked around with a few of his casual associates—"

What a nice way of saying, "those girls he hangs out with."

"—and coworkers, but only revealed that he had left early from work without telling anyone where he was going." Finally, Riza Hawkeye lifted her gaze from the paper and leveled it on the Elric in front of her. "I'm in charge of his schedule and I know the only thing he had planned that evening was the meeting with the ambassador. I notified Major General Yamasaki as soon as I found his apartment empty"

"Sounds like a typical Mustang to do…vanish without a word." Edward uttered; at which his subconscious reminded him that he was being a hypocrite.

Ignoring that remark, Riza continued, "What really worries me is this." Hawkeye offered the paper she was holding to Edward, which he silently took. Curious eyes skimmed over the paper before glancing up briefly to look at Riza, who had an ancient book in her hands and was gingerly flipping through it.

"What's that?" He asked, nodding toward the tome. Riza turned it to face Edward, pointing to the page it was opened to.

"That paper is part of a collection of notes General Mustang was keeping. He only told me he had a suspicion about some old maps, mentioning that there was something suspicious in a recent tunnel collapse in a sewer system being built in Central." A slender finger tapped the page, a sketchy drawing of an old trade line that ran straight through the future site of Central. "I looked through everything on his desk. When you overlap these maps he found, you'll find something interesting. There used to be a city here, but it was completely obliterated."

"A lost city?" Edward grimaced, already not liking what he was hearing. It was no surprise that Mustang would dedicate his time to looking over something like that, especially since cities just don't disappear without something strange going on.

Hawkeye sighed, looking at the book. "That's what he wrote in his notes. I have a feeling he went out to look around. The military sealed off the cave-in site and are preparing to seal it off with concrete." Reddish-brown eyes shifted back to Edward. "I told General Yamasaki this but he refused to investigate that area, saying it was too dangerous to risk any personnel." The book was closed and returned to the desk behind her. Riza looked determined, folding her arms over her chest. "I'm glad you're here, Edward. I intend to look anyway, and I know you've helped out around cave-in sites before. Will you go with me?

Figures…that was just like Yamasaki to say something like that. The man honestly needed to get his head leveled with the real world. "But finding a missing General should be imperative to a higher up, especially Yamasaki. In other words, Yamasaki shouldn't be concerned about losing a man or two." Even though that man lived in his own little world, he generally went to Mustang for many things; help with getting his way was one of them. Apparently Mustang could be very convincing about things even if he didn't like it. After dropping his gaze to stare at the surface of the desk for a moment, Edward slowly nodded to Riza's question before lifting his gaze to meet hers. "Let's go now." Edward stated, almost fiercely. No matter how much he thought of the General as an arrogant jerk, he knew Mustang needed to be found and soon; there was no telling if he would be dead by the time they found him, so why keep waiting around?

"Thanks, Ed. I feel better with you going with me." She gestured to the wall beside her desk where a military-issue field pack with a coil of rope attached rested against. "I was planning on going myself, but I was concerned about the instability of the cave-in. That's full of climbing equipment." The officer slipped off her uniform coat and draped it over her desk, unconsciously patting the newly exposed shoulder holster and the holster and extra clip at the bend of her lower back.

The bag was over her shoulder in a moment. "I'll drive."

* * *

The ride to the disaster site was held in relative silence. Mustang's car was still sitting in his driveway when they had drove by, so the logical assumption was that he took a cab wherever he went, and an examination of the dirt lot beside the site as Riza pulled in showed no vehicles other than the expected earth movers. Setting the brake and gathering her bag before exiting the car, she waited for Edward to join her, and then set out through a fresh cut in the chain link fence.

"Isn't this welcoming…" Edward grumbled sarcastically as got out of the car and followed Riza through the chain link fence before walking up to the cave. Rock and construction debris were scattered everywhere near the surprisingly narrow opening, the entry to the interior was a concrete-surrounded doorway stood partially open.

Riza pushed the door in, leaning in to inspect the locking mechanism. "It's burned," she noted aloud, touching the melted metal experimentally. This wasn't the first time the Lieutenant had seen this type of damage before. Reaching around behind her, Hawkeye unfastened a corner of the pack and removed a high-powered flashlight. Being the dependable person she was, Riza had replaced the batteries with fresh ones while packing. She flipped the switch and trained the beam of light forward, leading the way once again.

A flight of stairs led them deeper into the interior to a hallway lined with pipes of all sizes. It was deathly quiet. "Reports said only a few people were injured. Strangely, the walls and roof collapsed ahead of the workers."

"Oh. Well, doesn't that make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside…" Edward replied, rolling his eyes. Honestly, hearing that anyone had died down here due to any sort of accident was intimidating, but the Elric didn't turn back; he knew they needed to find Mustang before he thought of retreat. In a couple minutes of walking, Riza's flashlight fell on a pile of crumbled concrete, rock, and dirt. The light roved around the scene and suddenly paused on a warped section of the mess, revealing a hole big enough to crawl through.

Riza shook her head. "He melted the concrete." Anything will melt at a high enough temperature, but it was risky in such a narrow area. Mustang risked burning all the oxygen up in this small area and suffocating.

"Why didn't he just melt the whole thing down?" Edward wondered aloud; another rhetorical question. Edward knew Mustang was strange with the way he did things, but honestly, for once in his life, couldn't he have done something a little more logical instead of making his life more difficult than it was?

The Lieutenant only glanced at Edward as she shrugged out of the pack and climbed up the side of the fallen debris to the hole, tossing the bag through first and following right after. The light went with her and the area around Edward plunged into darkness. All that could be heard at first were shuffling noises and the rattle of falling rocks, then a silence. After a few moments of stark quiet: "Oh... my..."

Edward frowned as he eyed the hole warily; feet or head first? Edward just waited to climb through until he heard Riza's voice, and when he did, he shifted closer to the hole. "What do you see?" He called through the hole, lowering his head to peer into the hole, the Elric waited in complete silence for a response.

"C'mon through… You need to see this for yourself." Riza replied, her tone sounding distant, like she was distracted by something.

Curious as to what she had found, Edward moved to quickly climb through the hole, praying to whatever god was out there that the hole would not close up on the other side or debris would not kill him as he crawled through. After a few mere seconds, Edward reached the other side unharmed, and as he got to his feet to stand up straight, the Elric swiftly walked over toward Riza, where the light was, only to feel his lips part; his jaw dropping just slightly. Unbelievable, he thought…so the city that had originally been above ground was now down here? Who could've done this? Who would _want_ to do this?

"No wonder he wanted to come down here..." Edward breathed out, unable to pull his eyes off of the city that lay out right in front of them. Riza said nothing, just stared in awe at the buildings; though she did nod in agreement—this was definitely something of Roy's interest. After a few moments of complete silence passed, the Elric returned his attention to Riza. Just as he motioned to speak though, the corner of his eye caught something. Quickly turning his head, Edward noticed a human figure retreating from the roof of a building before disappearing.

Eerie…

Edward wondered if his eyes were playing tricks on him, "Did you see that? Someone was just there." He said to Riza, pointing at the building and glancing at her before starting down the eroded stone steps.

"I saw it. Let's hurry." Her breath quickened at the sight, at once sure that it was Mustang. Who else could it be?

The pair picked their way carefully and quickly descended from the edge of the city. The entire landscape laid out concave, like an unimaginably large bowl. Something bothered her however, something that didn't match up. The doorknob and concrete had been cold to the touch. The General should have been there last night, not just arriving right now. Not unless he was still exploring the city, which was too irresponsible, even for him.

Making sure Riza was following him, since she had the source of light; Edward broke into a light jog as he went over to the decaying building that he had seen the form sitting on just a few moments ago. As he rounded the corner though, he came to an abrupt halt. "What the—" Head canting to the side, Edward shifted his gaze up and down a large, sand edifice decorated with a large transmutation circle. It was a door. Though he only was sure of this because just as he had rounded the corner, it had been closing, although it barely made a sound at all. Turning his head to look at Riza, the Elric nodded toward the door. "Through here." Looking away then, Edward started toward the door. "Can you shine that light over what you can of the door?" He asked, allowing his eyes to once again size up the huge door.

Having followed Edward over, Riza nodded and flicked her wrist up, casting light over he once dim array. "Good enough?" She asked, turning her head to look at him.

"Yeah, thanks." He muttered, seeming distracted now as he lifted a hand and gently ran it over the rough surface of the door before taking a step back. Clapping his hands together then, Edward moved to press his automail and flesh hand upon the surface of the door. Instantly a blue light flashed from underneath his hands before it lit up the entire door; outlining the transmutation circle upon it. Listening, a loud cracking sound reverberated off of the buildings around them, at which Edward found as his cue to lower his hands and take a few steps back. Slowly the door opened just enough for two people to walk through before the cracking sound diminished and the door stopped moving.

Raising a slender brow, Edward inhaled deeply before exhaling slowly. "Well…this is getting more interesting by the second." He uttered as he walked back toward the door and peered into the pitch black that was inside it. "I think you should go first." Edward said, moving out of the way, lifting his thumb to point it at the darkness, "You're the one with the light."

Riza gave him a loaded look at his chivalrous offer but forged ahead without a word, not really minding at all. Being a military and war veteran, charging ahead wasn't anything new.

The streets were dark and mute; the silence so heavy that it discouraged her from calling out Mustang's name. The signs above what were once storefronts were written in a language she had never seen before. Street after street passed without any sign of life. After a few minutes further into their journey, Riza suddenly froze, lowering the beam of light to the ground. Edward stopped as well, only a little startled at the Lieutenant's actions. "What is it?"

She squinted through the darkness, making sure her eyes weren't playing tricks on her. Finally, "I see a light up ahead. A large building filled with light..." The flashlight beam pointed ahead of their feet once again and her steps hastened. It was almost like an oval cathedral on the outside, with wide, curved steps leading up to the oversized doors that stood agape. Turning her head to look at Edward, she nodded a and started forward again, the Elric right beside her as she did so.

Once they reached the cathedral, Riza and Edward slipped inside, eyes darting about for any sign of life. None showing, the Lieutenant and Elric wordlessly made their way down the hallway that curved around the interior of the outer wall, following another source of light. Eventually they came upon another open door with light spilling out of it. Riza flicked off the flashlight and tucked it back into her pack, sidling up to the doorframe with her back the wall and peering around the edge. Edward joined her shortly, although he had to crouch down beside where Riza was standing in order to get a good look into he room.

"Got a plan?" He breathed out, mystified albeit wary as his eyes shifted around the interior of the room.

Riza grunted, raising both of her brows. "That depends… Do you see anyone?" She asked.

"Nope," Edward replied quietly, only to suddenly move away from Riza.

"Ed…!" She hissed, reaching out to grab his shirt, but the Elric had moved too quickly and was already slipping into the room with cautious steps. "Men…" Riza grumbled, swiftly moving out from behind the wall and into the room; making sure to stay close to Edward, protectiveness overriding her caution.

The dim room before them suddenly became more illuminated, torches flaring and their light dancing along the large space. It was mostly empty, but there seemed to be something along the far wall. A laboratory maybe…? There was a table with beakers, a liquid settled in a large, glass bowl and bubbling slowly. The crimson glinted with the movement of the light and gave off an eerie glow as it filtered through the room.

Coming to a halt beside one another, Riza's eyes darted all around the room, taking in not only the strange trappings but looking for exits and places enemies could hide. "Ed..." Nothing felt right about this. Honed instincts or frayed nerves perhaps, but something was wrong. The Elric felt just as unnerved as he drew his gaze away from the crimson liquid, only to focus on a rather large looking "throne" that was across the room, his brows knitting slightly.

A mass of wires and tubes traced from the floor and walls, gathering and attaching to the back of the mechanical device. In a world that focused so much on alchemy, such a device seemed out of place. A form rested within the chair, old hands holding an equally old looking book. The pages flipped once then the covers met as the reading stopped. Fingers traced the leather binding before the object was tucked away and hidden from view. "So, we have guests..." A deep voice spoke, one slightly roughened with time and laced with wisdom. "Why don't you greet your friends? They've come a long way looking for you."

With the command given, the sound of boots against the old stone echoed about the room. A form approached and began to step from the shadows. The blue of his uniform was a familiar sight despite its slightly worn appearance in some places. It was _him_, from his dark hair, to the white gloves, down to the military issue boots. "Yes, Father… Since they've come this distance..." He stopped just outside of the darkness, a hand on his hip while the other was tucked within a pocket. A smirk was placed upon his lips. Something seemed a bit…off from his usual self, but he was okay; he didn't appear to be injured or harmed in any way.

Edward had instantly drawn his attention away from the old man and strange chair as he heard that familiar annoying voice cut through his mind. The Elric stared, dumbfounded, as the raven haired man calmly walked out of the shadows. "General?" He muttered, almost in disbelief. Same voice, raven colored hair, military uniform—it had to be the bastard; no one else could pull off such an annoying appearance like he did!

That smug grin, like the cat that ate the canary, after all they had gone through to find him... Riza glanced at the old man suspiciously. Hesitantly, she addressed the man they had come to find. "General, what are you doing here?"

Mustang took a few steps forward, the confident aura never leaving his frame and the smirk never falling. They had been looking for him. Well…they found him. The hand upon his hip slowly lifted and he gazed upon the array stitched upon the back of the white cloth. Then with a bit of a huff, he raised his other hand to remove the item, the second following, and toss the pair haphazardly upon the floor. He flexed his fingers and revealed the black gloves that had been hidden beneath.

"I'm flattered you came all this way." Not through yet, he began to unbutton the thick military coat and once opened, tossing it aside as well. For someone being rescued, he seemed far too relaxed…plus the removal of clothing was never mentioned in any kind of search party manual. Did they know? Would they understand? Eyes narrowed as his smirk deepened, waiting for them to figure out what this all meant. "But I'm afraid I won't be needing either of your help."

"Cut the crap, Mustang. What the hell did you come down here for?" Edward suddenly said, rephrasing Riza's question. Though he continued, his attention suddenly directed toward the old man. "And who are you?" He paused, "Are you the one that built this…_labyrinth_ of a city?" Edward did not mean for that to be funny, he was actually being quite serious. If that old man was, then what was his purpose and how did he do it?

"Don't be ridiculous, Ed. This city is ancient, and how can one man build an entire city?" Riza muttered, giving him a quick glance before looking back at Mustang.

The old man made no move to rise from his seat, but instead shifted his weight enough to rest an elbow upon the arm of the chair, his hand to his jaw. He seemed to want to observe, watch as this played out, so he did not answer any of the questions that were asked of him. Instead, he focused upon the General and the interactions.

If there was anything more that irked Edward other than being called names, it was people just ignoring him. He had so many questions and no God damn answers. Like that old man who decided to just sit there and pretend like he was not even here! The Elric grit his teeth; that man had some nerve…

But someone did finally speak, it was the Mustang. Sadly though, he did not give any answers that Edward wanted. In fact, he digressed—venturing off to his own subject of interest like he always did. "An impressive figure, a tempting form..." Mustang practically purred as he approached Riza.

With admirable restraint, Riza did not back up a step at the "General's" strange approach, but her hands did tighten their grip around the shoulder straps of her pack. Her eyes narrowed nearly to slits. Not even when Mustang was completely wasted did he talk to her that way.

Mustang grinned wryly, lifting his right hand to touch Riza's chin in a light graze. "No wonder he keeps you around…"

He? Third person? Riza twisted her face away from his touch with a light hiss between her teeth. "Don't," she growled firmly.

The raven haired man chuckled, drawing his hand away from her cheek before he placed some distance between them and the white dress shirt was opened, his thumb hooking into the waistband of his pants and pushing down just slightly and revealing upon his hip…

Having been silent and unmoving as Mustang had made his approach, Edward finally found something to say, although he wished he did not have to. "Ouroborus…" He uttered, shifting his gaze to the beakers full of red water and back to the ouroborus. Catching on then to what must have happened, Edward felt horror and rage rise within him. Mustang wasn't…he couldn't… "You…" Edward struggled briefly to find the correct word, though once he found it, he didn't hesitate to blurt it out, "_IDIOT!_"

Hawkeye's eyes never left the sin's face. "No... That's impossible, the General is still—" Wasn't he still alive? Didn't this require the death of a human and an attempted human transmutation? Edward's outburst broke her from her shocked stupor, and for once, she wholeheartedly agreed. Mustang was an idiot, an imbecile, a fool-hardy... jerk. If this were him, he would get an earful.

Edward was not even close to being done scolding the former alchemist, in fact, his voice even went a little louder, becoming more intense. "You come down here and let _this_ happen to _you_?!" He shouted furiously, jabbing a finger at Mustang, or…the form that used to be known as Mustang.

"Edward, does this mean... General Mustang is dead?" Though Riza addressed Edward, her eyes never left the face of the homunculus. She pulled the gun from her holster and held it to her side, her mind locked in confusion on who to aim it to—the silent old man or her former friend.

Before Edward had the chance to answer, "Mustang" parted his lips to speak, "No, he's not dead..." He smirked and crossed his arms over his chest, making sure to hold the shirt back and show off his mark as he seemed rather proud of it. "He's locked inside...weak. I overpowered him and I now own this form."

The Elric clenched his teeth, glowering at the raven haired man; he was certainly the center of not only his, but Riza's attention, too it seemed. Though his attention was soon drawn elsewhere; to that old man. "Did you do this?!" He snapped, taking a step toward the large chair that he was still sitting in, acting as if nothing was happening—which only pissed Edward off more. "Don't just sit there ignoring me, I want answers!" He demanded, his anger becoming so intense now that it could be palpable.

"Lust..." The older man finally spoke up, completely ignoring Edward as his gaze shifted to the sin, gaining his attention. "Since the plan has already changed, how about we complete our ranks?"

The newly named Lust smirked and turned, his gaze focusing on Edward. "You'll do."

Flashing his golden orbs back and forth between the old man and Mustang, Edward seemed to be momentarily distracted from his anger, looking more wary now. "What the hell are you talki—" Suddenly yanked forward, the blonde stumbled slightly as Lust abruptly grabbed the collar to his shirt and pulling him forward, away from Riza; practically dragging him deeper into the room and closer to the large chair.

Before she could react, Lust made his move and pulled Edward away almost faster than her eyes could follow. The gun flew up in the tight grip of her hand and aimed at Lust, then the old man, then back to Lust. Who was the greater danger? It seemed Lust was the one that imposed the greatest threat to Edward right now, but... Roy was in there…_alive_.

Edward growled in irritation, forming his automail hand into a fist. "Let g—aah!" He winced noticeably as he suddenly felt a sharp pain rake his spine and the back of his head as he was slammed into the stone; the wind knocked right out of him.

Lust only smirked, pressing the Elric's back hard against the stone surface as he pinned him. At the same time, Father had begun to make his move. Standing, the wires disconnected with a hiss and his large, robed form seemed to flow down the few steps there. A hand came to his forehead and an eye appeared at his touch, a crimson liquid bled from the new opening and dripped into a ready glass.

"What the hell..?" Edward's face distorted into one of disdain as he forgot about his fit with Mustang for being a complete moron, and instead becoming somewhat disturbingly fascinated with what he saw appear from the old man's forehead.

"Here...you have the task." He said almost emotionlessly as the glass was handed to Lust. The sin hesitated, seeming to just look at the liquid for a moment. Was he having second thoughts?

Edward stared, eyes suddenly growing wide as he looked back and forth between the old man and Mustang. "What? Hell no! Mustang, I swear if you don't get the hell off of me I will cut your fucking hands off!" He threatened, frustration rising in his tone. Maybe Mustang was fighting through and potentially stopping all this... But no, at Edward's rant, a wry grin appeared over Lust's lips as he took the glass from Father, drawing a newly clawed hand along the flesh of the Elric's neck, earning a frantic, wide eyed stare from the him. "Mustang, stop!" He blurted, his struggle becoming more erratic; desperate.

Riza's jaws ground hard together, baring her teeth as she lined up her sights on the white uniform shirt on Lust's back. Was it possible it had actually come to this? Mustang had made a pact with her, that if he was ever to step off the path, to pull the trigger. This was wrong; Mustang was the victim, but Edward was in danger. The sudden shout that echoed off the walls of that large room instantly settled the matter. Hating herself and this decision with every ounce of pressure on the trigger, she squeezed off a round without breathing, the bullet aimed for the back of the former General Roy Mustang's head.

With a confident smirk, Lust had turned to try and face Riza as he lowered the glass near Edward's neck, tilting it forward. Slamming his eyes closed, the Elric held his breath. This was not happening, not happening; Mustang really did not just do that—

Lust seemed to have only made it a few inches into the turn before the shot stopped him. "…!" The bullet entered high on one side of his neck, traveled through flesh and bone, and then exited the other side. The Elric's eyes opened wide as he felt the sin shift above him, only to see a very bloody and fortunate, in his case, event happen; Musta—Lust—being shot.

Blood sprayed and splattered with the force of impact, his body tensing immediately as onyx eyes went wide as the strength left his body, causing him to fall slack on the ground. All was on-looked by Father. His gaze never faulted and he never showed any surprise.

Edward stared, speechless. Was this divine intervention?

Hardly…

The glass fell from Lust's hand mid fall, tilting and letting its contents spill, and when he landed rather violently upon the stone floor, the crimson liquid hit the shallow wound and spread. It seemed to hold a life of its own and flowed "uphill" to actually enter the cut and absorb into Edward's bloodstream.

At first nothing happened, dead silence seemed to take over the entire room before something pierced it. The sound was heart wrenching, and it was made by Edward, who was unaware of how agonized his scream was. It was like fire was being ignited underneath his skin, spreading throughout every vein in his body. The sensation was so unbearable, that Edward was sure he was going to scream his lungs out from the pain.

Never…in his entire life had he felt something like this; he would rather go through automail surgery ten more times then be feeling this.

The alchemist's hands flew to his head as pain raked through his system, causing him to shake almost violently as he writhed on the ground until he was facedown on the stone floor; digging his automail and flesh fingers into the ground as if it held his very life. This pain had to stop at some point, it couldn't last forever!

All the while, no one moved, though none shared the same expression. Lust seemed dead while Father watched emotionlessly and Riza stared, completely horrified by what she was witnessing.

The screaming slowly ebbed away to silence as Edward's body stilled; a new awareness now behind the eyes of the body of Edward Elric... This awareness was pushing itself to the forefront, and God consciousness was an amazing feeling… _He_ was an amazing feeling… Hell, he was Pride. He _was_ good.

But it felt new... Where was he now?

"Mmn..." He brought his hands down, eyes fluttering open finally, though he couldn't recall closing them. He shifted, hand combing back, ripping the hair tie free, hair falling down over his shoulders, haloing around his head on the ground. He sat up stiffly, taking in the sight of the fallen male, head tilting slightly, before he looked towards the old man, brow rising. He felt something sticky—wet slide down his cheek... What was it? Eyes moving towards the fallen form of Lust, the sin made a disgusted face, a hand moving to wipe his own blood from his cheek.

"Disgusting..." He murmured in a tone different then it was as Edward; darker, calmer...more serious. "What's going on here..?" He glanced at Riza, and then looked to Father. Something told him the old man would be able to tell him more then she would. He pushed himself to his feet, careful and graceful all at once. Pride moved, foot nudging Lust's shoulder, before he again eyed the two still standing, arms crossing loosely, "...."

He tilts his head, aware of his own...identity, but suddenly curious at the odd fabric covering him. He eyed the shirt...the jeans...and scowled. "How utterly lame, dull and impossibly _not_ good enough..." The sin lifted his gaze, looking at Father, "I will require better." He notes, before eyeing the small spots of blood still splattered from Lust being shot in the neck, where his gaze suddenly flickered towards Riza. "I suppose you caused this mess..." He motioned to the gun, left hand flickering golden. "I should repay the action..." Pride's vibrant gold orbs narrowed to slits, moving forward. No speed really being used, just a slow steady walk, the gold slowly managing to return to his hand, but not nearly as strong as it could get if he had more time to work it up. It would hurt like hell to be touched...like ice and losing all sorts of ego. And more if he held long enough.

Somehow the action was too late. The gun lowered a few inches, her eyes widening in shock. "Ed..." Though she spoke the name, she knew it wasn't him, not anymore; it was shock at what had happened, what was happening right now. Hawkeye had just shot General Mustang, and now the elder Elric brother was advancing on her with a glowing hand. What a twisted rabbit hole she had fallen into.

He sneered, "Please...Don't move. I don't feel like running right now, much as it would do my figure well, I don't really need it, do I?" The sin smirks, free hand moving down his side, a playful look in his eyes. He was pride incarnate; vain, a bit greedy and definitely full of himself.

One last scan around the room confirmed the only exit was at her back. This was not the time to give in to panic, even if it was an excellent opportunity: it wasn't everyday that all of her nightmares came alive at once. Riza took a deep breath and let it out fast, eyes narrowing in angry determination. The gun rose hastily and shifted to the side, aiming at the former Fullmetal.

Riza realized with a hollow coolness that this was no longer a rescue mission; it was a last-ditch effort to save her own life.

* * *

**Authors note:** Hello again! x] Told ya' things would get moving along quickly.

Well, did you like it?! I hope you did; I know this was a long first chapter, but it was a good first chapter—unless you count in the fact that Edward has been taken over by Pride xD I will be doing my best to update this story as the roleplay goes along, but I will tell ya', it takes a _long_ time to transfer roleplay stuff into story format.

A little aside; yes, Edward is supposed is _not _supposed to know who Father is…obviously the plot wouldn't work if he did know him. And obviously this story is not like my other two; it's in manga universe, or I guess the new anime universe xD Alright, that's all until next time~!


	2. All Hell Breaks Loose, Part I

**Author's note:**

Riza: Ed. *Pause, eyeshift* Eeeeeedward. *Arms folded, glares at him through the fringe of her bangs*

Edo: -Blinks- Yes-s, Lieutenant?

Riza: You didn't forget to mention who I was, did you? I seem to see a few of my words in here... *Pokes fic* Seems a bit co-authored here...

Edo: Ah, so you want some more credit? -Grins- Then I shall give it.

Riza: That would be a first. All my credit usually goes to General Mustang.

Edo: -Sweatdrop-

Riza: And to our readers! I love your reviews, they make me feel warm and fuzzy inside. More please!

Lust: *Knows credit is due as well, but more interested on the female form before him* Payment enough would be that uniform on my floor.

Roy: *Mental voice in Lust's mind* Oh hell _no_! My floor! *Mental pause, glad the sharpshooter couldn't hear that*

Riza: *Safety clicks off*

Lust: *Doesn't fear bullets* Ohhh..kinky.

Edo: o___________o;;

Roy: Shut the hell up you freeloading bastard!

Edo: -Takes a quick glance about- So~ anyways! Before we take anymore of your time up, make sure you check out _Thousand Sunny Lyon_, who is our Riza for this story; she is a wonderful writer and is continuing to help with the plot still, even Roy!Lust is, although he does not have a FanFic account -Tear- But that's all, until next time~

* * *

**Chapter two**

Being a young sin, it took time to perform what the older ones would consider "simple." Lust's body twitched a bit as flesh grew once more and bone regenerated within his neck. Bracing both hands upon the floor, he pushed himself from his own pool of blood and stood in place. It was a rather gruesome sight as the life giving liquid stained the white shirt and dried in streams streaks down his neck. With a quick jerk of his head, his neck moved back into joint with a sickening pop. Healing was still a slow task for him, but it would speed in time. Focusing his gaze then on the newest sin and formerly known as Edward, Lust's hands clawed, eyes narrowing.

Pride paused hearing the crack and pop of his fellow sin's neck, head turning and arm lowering at the sight of the other sin alive and well, "Luxuria…" The newest sin mused, soon returning his attention to Riza again. "Now, to take care of you..." He moved towards her again, before scowling as Lust began speaking.

"She's mine, Pride… I've already placed claim." Lust said darkly, moving away from Father, whom had remained rather emotionless as he eyed his odd machinery that was partially destroyed from the bullet that had rendered Lust unconscious just before. It seemed to have nearly hit him, but instead ricocheted elsewhere, hence the damage.

"That bitch got my clothing covered in _your_ blood..." Pride began in a low growl, "Granted these…_rags_ aren't exactly my style... But all the same!" He turned his gaze back to Lust with a sharp glare, furious, moving towards the other sin now, sneering, "Besides that, what possible use could she be? She's a pitifully weak and a useless human."

Lust just smirked, not really intimidated by the smaller sin. His mind was elsewhere. "This body already has an affection towards her...but I have an interest in her as well. " Dark eyes looked past the younger sin and to the woman, a suggestive look held within his eyes. "I am Lust…it's time to explore my nature a bit."

Riza had no intention of sticking around long enough to contemplate all of this; like the fact that Lust had risen again and began arguing over possession of her with the non-Edward. "Shit." Excruciating torture couldn't pull it from her, but Riza knew she was seven ways to screwed right now. Simultaneously spinning and shoving the gun back into the holster, Riza ran at full speed out the door. It was too late to save the two alchemists, but someone had to warn the military before the creatures infiltrated it.

Lust's and Pride's arguing stopped instantly as Riza bolted. Instead of seeming very angry about it though, Lust's eyes narrowed and his smirk deepened as his legs bent a bit; the idea of a chase excited him for some reason.

"Yes, go fetch her, Lust…like a dog." Pride grinned, moving to fold his arms over his chest and snicker, although his humor didn't last long. Just as Lust turned around to glower at Pride, the damaged machinery began to groan and smoke, sparks flying in an angry display. Lust's attention is pulled by the thickness of the air as well as Father's soft exclamation of disproval.

Lust sneered, irritated with the machinery's disturbance. "Damn it…" Not waiting for an order, he sprang forward, taking the same exit Riza had and taking on the chase.

Great, just great. Now the fun was destroyed and this situation had to be taken care of. Father had already begun his repairs of the machinery, his method seeming far too simple; merely looking at the destroyed parts of the machine and it being fixed. A sort of alchemy, but without moving a muscle…?

Pride looked towards the sparking machinery, before letting out a soft sound, tilting his head and looking around. He'd heard something. Riza and Lust were both unimportant now to this odd sound...and there it was again.

Everything was black. Not the kind of black that you would see outside at night, but true black—a color so dense yet pure did not allow any sort of light to shine through. Edward was awake though, he knew that much. How long had he been out? Only a few minutes at most maybe… The only thing he could recall was the excruciating pain from the red water entering his system, then nothing. Where was he anyways? Had he died? No, he could still move… Pushing himself up from being face down on…whatever he had been laying on, the Elric stood, looking into the black abyss.

"_Hello?"_ He called, his voice cracking a bit as it echoed around him. Edward slowly rotated in a circle, his brows knitting as his voice soon died out to nothing. _"Hello?"_ He tried again, only this time bringing his hands up and cup around his mouth.

It didn't take Pride very long to realize that the sound was coming from his own mind. He snorts lightly, "My body's previous owner…" He murmured to himself, eyes glazing thickly.

The darkness of his mind was due to a lack of awareness. Now with himself focusing on his little mental companion, the area around Edward would grow brighter. Except where the shadow began to loom from a far end, eyes blinking and staring, randomly.

_"Can anyo—"_ Just as Edward had parted his lips to shout again, the Elric stopped, seeing one of the strangest of sights appear not in front of him, but all around him. Eyes…they were all just staring at him.

"So you're Edward Elric," Pride's voice sang as his form emerged from the shadows, surrounding by the eyes like a cloak. Edward turned instantly, eyes widening slightly as he noticed that the figure coming towards him looked exactly like…_himself_…save a few details. The sin's attire was different then what he wore in reality. Dark pants and a top that did not even cover his stomach, sleeves and his ouroborus on his shoulder fully visible; no automail as well, "Hm," he grinned, licking his lips as he eyed the other.

Edward's expression took on one of disdain at the other, finding the look on his face rather disturbing, really… "Who the hell are you?" He asked warily, although he was starting to get a good hunch as to what had happened to him…which was this; he was being possessed.

Pride chuckled darkly, "Mm… That information can come later. Just sit tight and enjoy the ride, hm?" With that, he turned to begin heading back into the shadows.

Huh? Edward made a face, his nose scrunching up slightly. "Like hell I will—hey! Where are you going?!" He blurted out as the look-a-like walked away. Just like that? That was all he was going to say? The sin did chuckle, ignoring Edward as his form faded as well as the light, causing the Elric to be engulfed by darkness once again. "Hey! Don't leave me here alone!" Edward shouted just before running toward the way Pride had vanished, "Do you hear me!? Get your ass back here you coward!" He yelled even louder; irate. There was no response, only silence.

…That son of a bitch.

Pride shook his head as he surfaced back into reality, rubbing slightly at his forehead and frowning, "…Interesting." He murmured; something would have to be done about Edward, he was already a nuisance and his time in his body had just begun.

* * *

Taking the corner sharply, Riza's boots skidded on the dust of ages past but she recovered fast, dashing down the corridor. There was not any way to outrun a homunculus, she knew that, but she had to try. Going down without a struggle just was not her style.

The distraction before seemed to have worked to buy her some time, but for how long? Riza tore down the steps of the cathedral, leaping the last five or so and landing in a half-crouch, springing off at a dead run immediately. The pack was weighing her down, so that was discarded within the first block. There went her flashlight, but it was no longer safe to use it anyway. The darkness surrounded her as she ran deeper into the city, not following her path exactly to make it harder for them to track her. Her gasping breath rang out like a rifle shot in the heavy silence that lay over the underground city like a blanket, and she tried and failed to stifle it. She only knew of one exit, however, and that could pose a problem.

This was the place. There was no doubt about it as he could practically feel the energy radiating in the air. His old acquaintance wasn't too far away and he was definitely up to something. But since when had that change from years ago? Even in the past, he had been scheming and planning for bigger things than what he had. Stopping midway down another street, the man reached and removed his glasses, cleaning the lenses with his handkerchief before placing the items back upon the bridge of his nose. He then placed a hand behind his head and let his fingers move along the band that held back his long, blonde hair. "This place is a maze... I'm afraid I'm lost."

It was too dark to see more than a few feet ahead of her, and a high wall had abruptly ended one of her detours. The Lieutenant had to backtrack, but the street she had turned down was unfamiliar. It was going in the right general direction at least, she thought as she ran through the empty residential district. One street over should put her right back on track. She turned a hard left at the next corner while looking over her shoulder and slammed hard into a firm object. At her speed it was like hitting a brick wall, and the officer rebounded off the object and smacked flat on her back on the hard concrete with a grunt and heavy exhalation of air knocked out of her lungs.

Hohenheim blinked after bracing himself. The impact had pushed him back and thankfully a wall had been there to keep him from hitting the ground. Or on the other hand, it would probably be more painful to his poor back later on.

A hand came to her head and rubbed her eyes to clear the stars that swirled in her vision, eventually dropping the hand and focusing on the figure before her. Riza gasped in recognition and stiffened on the ground, eyes widening in fear in that unguarded moment before she recovered. "You! You are one fast bastard," she growled vehemently. "So what are you going to do to me? Make me into another monster? Or just kill me?"

Curling his arm around, he rubbed his lower back before blinking once more in surprise. "…Make…you into a monster? Kill you?" There was questioning in his eyes, golden hues behind thin framed glasses. "I'm sure you have me mistaken for someone else." He offered a kind smile then extended a hand to help her up. There was no way this man was the same one as before. He was far too genuinely kind.

* * *

Edward growled as his irritation grew more prominent. He was _not_ going to stand around and let this homunculus use him like some sort of puppet! _"I know you can hear me!" _he hollered, _"So get back in here and give me some damn answers!"_

Pride shook his head a bit, before looking towards Father, then to Lust watching him move towards the exit before scowling, "Well, I guess I could play with—Aah!" He twitches, scowling a bit more and moving to sit somewhere near Father, but not too close to get in his way, letting his eyes close.

Edward wasn't going to shut up, not until he had the homunculus' attention again and kept it. _"Listen to me, prick—"_ Before he could finish his sentence that darkness became light again in his mind, and the shadows and eyes returned.

Pride didn't reappear though, _"You're starting to get too loud..."_ He noted. "_And by the way... _I'm no coward." He did appear then, but a few feet behind Edward's form.

The Elric whirled around, coming face to face once again with his look-a-like. Scowling, he parted his lips to speak. "You—"

"What is it you want, anyways? I'm quite busy." Pride interrupted, perking a brow. The other's anger was... hard to understand. He was still new and well—he knew what anger was—but why was Edward being angry? He was Pride. Damn good and the little shit should be glad to be chosen to be his new body.

"What do I want? You have to ask?" The Elric snapped, "How about, get the fuck out of _my_ body? That's what I want." Edward stated, now taking a step toward the other. "And tell me who you are." He demanded, lifting a hand to jab his index finger at Pride's chest.

Pride grinned at the other, uninterested in his first remark, "Who am I…? That's what you ask... " He moved, amused, not bothered by the other's rage, "I am a homunculus... The greatest and most deadly sin... Superbia!" He gave a toothy, but damn good looking grin,"...Or Pride for those of lesser intelligence levels..." He eyed the other's pointing finger, before watching him, "What'd you think you'll be able to do with that..? You're not a solid body...technically. And what you see isn't either... You'll simply pass through me." He paused, "Anyways, if you're going to keep me _here_, you'd better at least entertain me."

Edward sneered, "I'll entertain you alright, _Pride_…" He replied coldly. Yeah, he would give the sin a great show starting a fist in his face, that's what. Beat the shit out of him; that was the show, and he would not pass right through him like some spirit. Bringing his automail arm back and forming his hand into a fist, Edward stepped toward him. Swiftly bringing his arm forward, the Elric's fist came within inches of Pride's face, which had not even flinched, as he stopped short. Pride's hand had gone straight _through_ his chest, jutting out the other side.

The sin laughed, "How very hot tempered. You are indeed amusing." He wiggled his fingers a bit, "But I have more skill here. If I wanted I could crush your heart without a second thought. Now... Is this really so bad that you'd rather be dead?" He mused, withdrawing his hand. He was cocky, alright. But that was just Pride.

Mortified, Edward looked from the hand to Pride. No, damn it! He was supposed to be able to punch Pride in that stupid face of his! He wasn't supposed to be some spirit thing! "Bullshit!" He blurted out, moving a hand to grab Pride's wrist, only to realize, like Pride had demonstrated, that he could not; he went right through it like air.

Well this—this was _not_ looking good.

Pride smirked, tilting his head as he suddenly _grabbed_ Edward's automail arm, examining it. "Ahh... This is what you've cursed my perfect form with, hm?" he began, changing the subject, "Metal limbs... The leg too, I can feel that. How very irritating... And with them in the way I can't regenerate them." He scowled, "What sort of foolishness did you do to stick us with this?"

Gritting his teeth in frustration, the alchemist flickered his gaze to his automail, actually a little stunned that the sin had grabbed his arm. How the hell did he do that? Didn't he just say that he couldn't touch him? "Well I don't know, smartass, you're the one inside _my_ head, why don't you figure that out for yourself." Edward replied, his tone laden with the hate he held for the other. "If you can't handle the automail then get the fuck out." He snarled. Pride just snorted and rolled his eyes, dropping the Elric's automail before turning to walk away. "Where the hell do you think you're going?!" Edward shouted.

"I really don't have time for this... You're really not that entertaining now." Pride frowns, pausing to look over his shoulder, almost pouting, "Too bad... I'll just have to ask Father how to remove you entirely..." He wiggles his fingers in a teasing wave, "I'll just be on my way to do that now. Enjoy what time you have left."

A threat? Edward tensed, curling both of his hands into tight fists, scowling at the sin. How would he be gotten rid of? Edward shuddered; he did not want to know… "You're not leaving me locked up in here!" he snapped, striding after the other. Maybe if he followed him he would get out? It would not work, he knew that, but giving up was not his forte.

The sin laughs as he suddenly vanished, leaving Edward in darkness once more. Blinking a few times to watch Father mess with the machine, Pride let out a soft breath before standing, brushing himself off. Damn dust was everywhere, "We need a maid."

He muttered; irritated. He moved over to the machinery, smirking at Father, "So...you are my creator, hm? Father..." That much did register now. "Shall I go with Luxuria...? Or do you have another need of me?" He mused, "Of course... everyone needs me some way or another." He boasted, moving back a bit, just watching the alchemical reactions without much movement. This body seemed to have a natural attraction to alchemy. To watch it...wanted to study it or something... He wondered about that, but pushed the thought aside—he was getting bored now. "Maybe I'll go exploring anyways." He notes, looking towards the way Lust and Riza had both left, already taking steps towards it.

Father's patience began to wear thin, especially now that he could feel something coming...something very familiar from a long time ago. His eyes narrowed as he completed the repairs and moved towards the lab table just a few feet away. "Pride… Come to yourself and do not let the human control the situation." Father noted as the youngest sin continued toward the door. He had seen the mental battle with all of the homunculi created in this manner. The personalities fought back in the beginning, but he was sure that both Lust and Pride were strong enough to eventually completely overpower the original owners. But in the nature of this, he could not completely destroy the original owners as it would damage the body. So letting Pride handle it and Lust continue his chase, Father went back to his work and watched as the metal twisted beneath his alchemic fingers.

* * *

Riza blinked in confusion, squinting her eyes slightly to look at him more closely. It looked just like the old man she had seen before. If he was playing mind games, it was almost effective. After seeing the change overcome Mustang and Edward, there was no way she would trust this sudden gesture of chivalry. Hawkeye glared at the offered hand and scrabbled backwards, rising to her feet quickly in the small dust cloud she kicked up and taking a few steps back for good measure. "Oh indeed," she spat sarcastically. "And who would I mistake you with? Your twin?" She sneered, panting. The night's events had lowered the Lieutenant's tolerance and patience for anything, which was saying something. After all, she had worked under General Mustang for years. Riza stood slightly bent over, leaning to the side marginally as she gasped for breath from her run and the blow with the older man. Another gun and clip lay nestled to her lower back, and the landing had dug it painfully into her flesh. If she lived, that would bruise badly later. The officer made no move to collect it, the gesture proven useless against the robed man earlier. Wait, robed? Hawkeye took in the man's clothing in front of her. "You changed your clothes for the occasion, too?" The woman wheezed out a barking laugh. The wardrobe change gesture was probably part of the mind games.

The blonde man blinked once more, but he definitely knew where this was going. She didn't trust him for a reason and it wasn't just because he was a stranger. This was something much deeper. Looking past her, his eyes narrowed a bit. She had come from that direction and was out of breath, but not in too bad of shape...so he must not be far now. "Listen… You don't have to trust me, but tell me where you just came from. I don't believe there's time to explain, but this is very important. And as cliché as it sounds, our existence depends on it." His kind façade had taken on a more serious one, eyes narrowed behind his glasses and his shoulders set firmly.

Riza stared at the man, calculating. He seemed genuine, and his request seemed out of character for the type of man she was escaping from. "Are you... really not him?" Remembering the immediate danger, she looked around their surroundings and listened intently for the sounds of pursuit. Her gut feeling said this was not the same man, and she had no choice but to follow that feeling. "They're after me," she offered hesitantly. "One that calls himself Lust, especially—he used to be my boss... at least until last night. Another named Pride is there with the old man." Her eyes fell on the man in front of her, looking him up and down. Yes, he looked large and perhaps fit for his age, but being outnumbered was the least of his disadvantages here. "What makes you think you can face two homunculi and their creator that doesn't even need to move to perform alchemy?" The Lieutenant forced herself to stand up straight and took one last deep breath to quell the gasping. If this man was actually innocent, then she wasn't about to send someone else off to their demise.

His frame seemed to tense even further with her words. Yes, it was exactly what he thought and he wished he hadn't been right. Homunculus, yes he was very familiar with that name. Though, it seemed more of a title now. "I…have some experience in this subject. Don't worry." The man then gave her another smile. "Just show me the way and I'll make sure you get out of here safely." Hohenheim then nodded to himself in decision, "I'll make sure your boss gets out of here, too. There's still hope for General Mustang." So... he knew them?

Lust's eyes narrowed as his gaze shifted about the dark streets. Where was she? He could practically feel her and the other stirred within him. Lust couldn't help but smirk at that. He had felt the other, though weak, within during his time as the dominant persona but now was the strongest. He was threatening his precious female colleague and the alchemist was fighting even harder to gain a footing. Which actually, it was getting really annoying now and he would have to silence that voice soon. Lust turned another corner, boots skidding and bringing him to a halt at a crossroad. So either she weaved a bit through the city, or she had made it further than he had expected. But she was close, the sin could practically smell her. With a smirk, he picked a path and darted forward. Not far at all.

* * *

He was alone again.

Edward groaned, dropping to the ground in a heap on his knees. He stayed like that, just staring silently in the direction Pride had left in. _"I'm not going to leave you alone until you come back in here!"_ He suddenly warned.

Five minutes later…

_"Pride, Pride, Pride, Pride…!"_ Edward repeated the sin's name over and over again, _"I know you can hear me!" _He added in a shout at the end as he lay on what could be called…ground…the ground of his mind? It was so dark he didn't even care to know. _"Get back in here before I start singing show tunes to you, dickhead!"_ Edward knew the sin could hear him, and like hell he was going to shut up—not until he got his way. _"C'mon! You know you wouldn't like be locked away like this either!"_

Pride snorted as he exited the room, "Like a little human could ever control Pride." He muttered. After a while though, he sneered at his little mind buddy's shouting, _"You forgot sexy, smart and funny, Edo~"_ He mused. He tilted his head a bit hearing the other's chant of his name, letting out a sound out loud while he responded,_ "Oh-h yes-s... Keep chanting my name like that.... I lo-ove that." _He smirks, though anyone looking at him wouldn't know why. He glanced around, rather enjoying his own little self made exploration mission. He licked at his lips before laughing softly to himself,_ "Of course I'd never want to be locked away like that... That's why __**you**__ are there and I'm out here. Enjoying life..." _He muses,_ "Not that that's going to change, I rather like this body… Very nice and slender and... Well, the metal limbs are a bit cumbersome...but maybe later I'll have them ripped out and regenerate my __**own**__ limbs..." _He notes, still not letting himself sink fully into his mind with Edward again. _"I don't think I will be coming back for a while, little one... I've too much to do at the moment... Like find that little girlfriend of yours and help Lust rid ourselves of her."_ He chuckles.

"_What?!"_ Edward screeched, _"Get your ass back in here so I can rip off your legs and chafe away your pride!"_

Pride was learning himself as he went along... Walking and closing his eyes, staying out of his mind too much to keep Edward at bay. He was able to almost sense Lust... At least he was pretty sure that's what that was...the sensation of a pull... He looked around, "Hn... Luxuria seems to know his way around already... what a shame." He shifted, focusing on that sensation, wanting to be better at it simply to be _the_ best. That was just how he worked. He had to have and be the best. He followed that odd pull as he heard Edward again, laughing softly to himself, _"Really... I thought we were through that already... You can't do a damn thing to me…" _He grinned some, now pushing Edward back again. He was getting much closer to Lust now…

* * *

Riza didn't respond right away, pausing to think it over. She looked down the way she had come, still listening for sounds of approach. It might just be her imagination, but she thought she heard something. "You know him?" Slowly her head turned to meet his gaze levelly. "If there's hope for him, I'm going with you," she stated firmly. The attitude she exuded let him know there was no arguing. It may be grasping at straws to trust a complete stranger, but Lust had stated that Roy was not dead, so maybe there was hope. "Follow me then, I'll take you to them." Turning on the heel of her boot, Hawkeye started a brisk pace back the way she had come. "Chances are they'll find us first, though," she muttered.

"You'd be right." Lust stood at the end of the street, a smirk upon his lips and his hands upon his hips. Lowering those same hands, he began to stalk forward. His eyes locked upon Riza, not really acknowledging Hohenheim's presence. Again his mind is on one thing and Hawkeye is at the center of it. But in order to fulfill his wishes, he had to subdue her. Hohenheim knew this could potentially not turn out well so he shifted and placed his larger form in front of Riza. Lust raised an eyebrow before smirking again. "Do you really want to do that, old man?" But the older alchemist didn't back down.

If he wanted to die, so be it. Both hands began to claw and the smell of acid was faint in the air. The young sin had come to know his powers just hours earlier, but already he knew his strengths. Lowering his torso, he lunged forward, hands extended and ready for the strike. Hohenheim didn't move but just as Lust reached the two, a stone wall rose from the ground to block. There was a loud growl from Lust as the sin's claws dug into the stone as the acid began to eat away at it. "Go now." Hohenheim ordered. "I'm right behind you and will keep him away."

A small sound of shock slipped past Hawkeye's lips when the wall appeared without movement. If she had not just been convinced that this was not the same man from earlier, this would have driven her to run for the exit once again. No one had ever jumped in front of her before and she had almost moved against him. She grit her teeth at the order, reluctant to leave him and at the same time pained at what she was witnessing Mustang's body doing. But if the man was going to follow her, then maybe he could match the homunculus with his alchemy. "Fine, just...try not to kill him," she answered reluctantly.

As he rounded the corner, Pride came to a halt, a wry grin pulling at his lips. He had found what he had been searching for. "Oh Luxuria~ It's no fair to hide from me… I want to play too~" Pride called, singsong, laughing softly at himself. Oh he was go-od.

Turning to run in the opposite direction, Hawkeye only took a few steps before stopping suddenly, sighing vocally in despair. "No, I can't. It's Edward... Pride is here." The woman glanced over her shoulder at her new defender. Could the man handle two at the same time?

Lust dug his claws deeper into the stone, the acid eating away at the material until he was able to rip through it. It fell away in chunks and the sin jumped over the remaining pieces. Since the old man wanted to play, he'd finish him off quickly then have his way with the woman. The thought of those curves hidden beneath that uniform, the layers of clothing peeled away to reveal her very woman like form... Lust's smirk deepened and he lunged to finish this fight quickly. But he was stopped. In the same manner as the stone wall, a pillar rose from the ground and slammed into the sin's chin, forcing his head back with an gut wrenching pop.

Pride grinned, watching Lust get hit, unbothered, "Way to be a punching bag, Lust."

After temporarily dealing with Lust, Hohenheim turned and his eyes immediately widened upon seeing Edward's form. Riza had said two had been turned into homunculi, but...could it really be? No, it wasn't possible that it had happened to _his_ son, but he could feel it. He took a slow step forward, questioning what he knew. "…Edward?"

Suddenly forgetting all about Pride as a familiar voice rang through his mind—the mind he was trapped in—Edward scrambled to his feet. Was that who he thought it was?_ "That bastard! What the hell is he doing here?"_ he blurted out, practically fuming now as the image of his father shot through his head.

Pride turned his head at the name, eyeing the man that looked like Father but he could tell was not. He eyed the man over. He seemed... familiar...but in a way...disliked. "Hn... Bastard..." He mimicked, feeling Edward's rage towards the man. _"Why do we hate this man?" _He questioned the blond in his head. He didn't know…and really, to be honest… Didn't care at all... But still, curiosity tended to win out.

The Elric scowled at Pride's question, _"Like I already said. You're in my body, so figure it out yourself."_ He replied icily.

Displeased with Edward's response, Pride merely scoffed and watched the man curiously. He was sort of acting like Edward... But off… He could feel the same rage towards the man, but not sure why. It was confusing and he hated it...so he forced Edward back a bit more, wanting to be rid of the emotions.

Hawkeye looked from the old man to Pride and back again. Pride acted almost familiar with him. "No-o…" She said slowly, taking a few steps back upon realizing she was between them. "That's not Ed... Not anymore."

Wait a minute.

Riza blinked as a new thought came to her. Pride had Edward's thoughts, or memories at least, and Lust stated Mustang was still alive. Maybe, just maybe, he could be reached. While those two distracted each other, Riza turned and took a few steps closer to the stunned and hopefully battered Lust. "General Mustang!" She glared at Lust's form angrily. "Fight him! You have to!" If she and the old man lost this battle, it would be bad for her. There was no doubt what Lust had in mind for her as soon as he had his hands on her. "You can't let this happen!"

Thankfully for the General's sake, Lust was in control at the moment and his powers made it possible for the body to heal after the attack. Though, that didn't make it any more pleasant. Standing, the sin raised both gloved hands and snapped his neck from the slightly odd angle. Hearing the woman's yelling, his attention is immediately brought back to her and his goals. Oh no, no he never could forget about that. The dark smirk returned to his features, his form turned towards her, and he could go no further. Onyx eyes blinked and he turned to see if there was some outside force holding him in place, but finding none confused him further. Before he could place blame or even find his voice, his eyes glazed over and his form became still and rather relaxed.

_"You will not go another step!"_ A voice echoed inside the mind and the General stood, barely supporting himself but at least standing. Even in his mind, he looked battered and beaten, put through hell. He was drained of energy and his stance was forced, even his mental clothes were ripped and dingy. Yes, his situation had been similar to Edward's, but at least the blonde hadn't endured the beating that he had.

_"So…the human finally stirs. I thought you weren't going to make this any fun." _A source-less voice echoed about the darkness, making its presence known despite not being seen. But that was soon remedied. Boots echoed with each slow step and the General soon faced...himself. The being was the same height, held the same projected ego, but the intentions and attire were completely different. Instead of the uniform, he wore a long, black coat that was rather form fitting for the item, bare chest only covered by a few leather straps, and the matching pants rose only high enough to barely cover the ouroborus tattoo on his hip. "A male form this time… Well, lust is lust no matter the gender, so this should be fun."

Roy steeled himself; standing taller. He would not appear any weaker than he already did. "Get out, you bastard. I won't—"

"And what will you do? Hm? You're weak and I'm dominant, superior." Lust interjected with a smug grin. But his expression soon fell when a burst of flames suddenly appeared with one quick snap from Mustang's hand.

"_This_."

Life returned to the body and Lust smirked once more in Riza's direction. His eyes roamed along her form, but his direction changed and surprisingly, he moved to stand by his fellow sin. Perhaps together they could end this threat. "You know, Pride…" Then to finish his sentence, he turned and thrust his hand forward into Pride's chest, using his inhuman strength to slam the other into the stone below them; pinning Pride's arms down at his sides. "Sorry, kid… Hawkeye!" There was that commanding tone again. "Get out of here now! That's an order!"

Pride seemed rather amused with the entire situation, though when Lust had slipped into his mind, he frowned. He thought he would be the unique one and have these problems—not Lust, too. When the sin surfaced though, Pride huffed; Lust had not remained in his mind for too long. Keeping his gaze focused on Hohenheim, the sin had barely noticed that Lust had come over, though suddenly feeling the hands on his chest startled him, causing him to fall to the ground under "Lust's" weight. "Get the hell off me you klutz!" He snapped, seeming disgusted and irritated.

"_General?"_ Edward's voice suddenly rang from Pride's mind. He recognized that tone, but had Mustang really broken through and gained control of his body. Wait. Mustang was able to gain control…which meant that later he would… _"Shit! Let me out of here so he doesn't gloat about this later!" _He shouted frantically. Yeah, listening to Mustang go on and on and on about how he was able to subdue Lust and he could not do that to Pride was not something he wanted to deal with.

Hawkeye did not appear surprised with "Lust" pinned Pride to the ground. In fact, the only reaction she showed was a more stony expression at Mustang's order. "I refuse. I'm not going anywhere, General. I didn't come all this way to leave you once I found you," she stated matter-of-factly. Running from Lust was a different story. This was actually Mustang now.

Hohenheim stepped forward quickly and placed a hand upon Riza's shoulder. "Come on..." And before she could protest, "We're not leaving them, we just have to put some distance between us and them then regroup." It was obvious that the two military personal were very close and Riza will be reluctant to leave. Yes, he himself did not want to go. That was his son; his own flesh and blood taken over by a homunculus. It all went back to Hohenheim's own past... His son was fighting for his own existence due to something that was never his fault.

Only the other man's touch pulled Hawkeye's attention away from the two struggling on the ground. She shrugged from his grasp irritably, the move earning him a sharp look. "_I_ am his chance. We are their only chance. If the General can be reached, then so can Edward. If you're scared, go ahead and run, a coward will be of no use to us anyway." With that, the man was ignored, Hawkeye moving away from him and quickly to Mustang's side, just out of arm's reach. Leaning in, bending at the waist, Hawkeye looked hard at her struggling superior. The intent, the aura, it was all Mustang. No unearthly presence lingering under the familiar skin of the man she served. With a slight nod of satisfaction, she moved in and knelt behind Pride's head. Slamming her palms on his shoulders and situating all her weight down on him, she helped to subdue the sin.

"If you have a plan other than running or us dying, I am more than ready to hear it, sir."

* * *

**Author's note:** Kushah~ Like where this is going so far?

Firstly, I just thought of this the other day, but I'm assuming that some of you may be wondering where this fits into the "FMA timeline" and honestly, I don't know. Only because the manga is not complete… I suppose that it would not really follow it, since in that Edward is a teenager…in this he is an adult (twenty-one), and he has not met Father or any of the other homunculi before. If he had, then the story would not have worked because he would have figured out what Father was going to do to him. But he didn't, so-o~ Place the story where you want x]

Secondly, a special thanks to _Mel_ for the review; those are always appreciated, since I need to know how you all like this story and if I should keep it up.


	3. All Hell Breaks Loose, Part II

**Chapter three**

He was being held down by two humans.

Well, one was technically homunculus, but there was still a human in there. The other was definitely full human, and also a woman.

A _woman_!

If this wasn't the most humiliating thing that has happened to him ever in his experience in other bodies, then Pride didn't want to know what the worst was. He felt weak with not having the upper hand here, but this woman was strong—not that he would ever tell her—and she was making it difficult to even pry one hand off, let alone both. Pride was trying his damndest to get the officer off, too—there was no time for going easy on these humans while he was losing.

Losing is unacceptable…

"Get the hell off!"

"I don't think so, kid."

Pride clenched his teeth, glowering up at Lust. He wasn't sure who he hated more. Lust or the woman. It was a draw as of right now. Besides, what the hell had gotten into him anyways?

"You're supposed to be helping _me_, not _her_!" Pride spat, disgusted with the other's decision to do such a thing—choose someone else over him; absurd!

Mustang glanced toward Hawkeye. Pride still didn't know it wasn't Lust in control. Maybe he could use this to his advantage? Along with that thought, a spark of hope struck his conscious. Maybe, just maybe, if he had been able to overpower Lust, then Edward could do the same to Pride. However, Edward was younger than him, and was still probably recovering from Pride's insertion. It was a long shot, yes, but if anyone else could do it, Edward could.

Hohenheim sighed from where he stood, pushing the belittling he had received from the Lieutenant to the back of his mind before he faced the scene once more. No, he didn't want to leave his son, but if it would let them have a better opportunity to figure out a way to keep them all from dying… However, that was out of the picture now.

"We have to find a way to subdue them both," Hohenheim's eyes narrowed, "The other presences are strong and even if they both do gain control, it won't last long."

Hawkeye didn't look away from Pride; she was focusing too hard, and her muscles were already straining to keep him pinned. But she had heard what Hohenheim had said.

She shook her head, "There's no way we can get him out of here like this," she lifted her chin and turned her face to look at him, her jaw tight from the exertion of holding down the boy-turned-homunculus. "We can't carry them both out of here, even if they were unconscious. Either we get the homunculus out of him or knock him unconscious." She didn't really believe Hohenheim could remove the creature, but he had shown abilities similar to the man in the chair. "One of you," Hawkeye shifted her faze to the man in front of her. She continued, "General, you _must_ hang on until we get to a safe place. Please. There's no way we can do this without your help."

"If either of you even _think_ about knocking me out, I promise you that I _will_ kill you all! Now, Lust—"

_That's not Lust!_

_Shut up! Your stupid human friend may be overpowering him, but Lust is still in there!_

Pride ignored Edward's sigh as he proceeded to push his little mind buddy to the back of his mind again, and lock him up behind "bars" while he tried to free himself from being pinned. Honestly, this was the most frustrating thing he has ever had to deal with from humans.

"What the hell did you do to Lust?" Pride snapped, fed-up with both of the humans above him. Especially the woman…he did not like her one iota. Why Lust didn't want her dead was beyond him entirely.

"The same thing that will happen to you," the General grunted, putting more pressure on Pride's wrists to keep him pinned to the cracked stone. Now, he just had to figure out a way to make sure that happened.

Pride wasn't going to let that happen.

"'Tch!"

Then, with a swift jerk from his left leg, the sin rammed his knee into the General's stomach. Mustang let out a sharp cry as the metal grinded into his ribcage, surely breaking one.

"Sir!"

"Heh!" Pride smirked darkly as both humans were briefly distracted. Using this to his advantage, he yanked his wrists free and grabbed a hold of Mustang's arms before moving to slam both of his feet into Roy's stomach before rocking his body back and flipping the other over him and onto the female officer.

Getting to his feet in a flash, Pride chuckled darkly, "The same is going to happen to me, you say? Mm, I extremely disagree with that, General." He mused and winked at the two that were scrambling to their feet. Pride didn't stick around though; he was off in a flash toward the exit; he'd have to find father and regroup there before dealing with these three again. Unless Lust gained control again…

Hohenheim hadn't moved from where he was, but when he saw the homunculus making a run for the exit, his hands moved in a swift movement. They clapped together before they were placed onto the ground. Like lighting, a bright blue light darted across the floor and toward Pride. It scaled up one of the support towers before the shaking started.

The sin skidded to a halt, his violet, cat-like eyes darting up to the tower that was shuddering.

_Why are you watching?!_ Edward shouted, not that he really wanted Pride to run off with his body.

Pride sneered before he turned to move forward again, but he didn't get far.

The tower crumbled and crashed to the ground in tons, one catching the back of the sin's leg to bring Pride facedown on the ground.

_Get up, get up!_

Pride jerked his head back as he scrambled to his feet, but from the corner of his eye he could already tell that it was too late.

About the size of a large, deformed boulder, the chunks of cement landed on Pride, covering every part of him save for Pride's left hand.

When the last few pebbles rolled down the pile of debris and the dust cleared, Mustang, Hawkeye and Hohenheim rushed over to the scene.

"What kind of idea was this?" Mustang roared towards the old man, "There's no way he will be alive!" he was furious; frustrated. But not only with Edward's father, but himself for letting Pride get the upper hand.

Hohenheim said nothing. He calmly walked around the mountainous pile of rocks that the General and Lieutenant were hastily picking through. But he found the blood, first.

It was flowing like a crimson river from beneath the rocks, filling the cracks in the cement until it reached Hohenheim's shoes. It was Pride's blood…_Edward's_ blood…

"No," Hohenheim muttered, eyes narrowing from underneath his glasses, "He's not dead, I assure you, General."

* * *

How this could be considered a "break" was a sign of how bad things were upstairs in the General's house. Hawkeye sat in a sort of sprawl in a wooden rocking chair, staring at the ceiling with her arms hanging off the sides of the chair and her legs stretched out. Her blood-stained hazel eyes followed the heavy footsteps on the man—men—above her as they stomped from one end of the room to the other, at times swerving in some random directions. Now she was actually watching over Pride from the hallway, keeping him in sight, but while he was unconscious her focus naturally diverted upstairs.

"Hnn…"

Pride's arm twitched as he slowly pulled himself out of the blackness that had engulfed him for the last several hours. His head was pounding sharply…painfully…it was extremely irritating. His eyes fluttered before they opened and he lifted his head slowly to stare at a leather couch and a maple colored coffee table. He shifted slightly, though the movement was restricted. Pride frowned slightly and glanced down to find the source of problem. Binding him to the chair were nine separate pieces of rope, all placed at specific spots on his body to make sure that he had no chance of escape; his wrists, elbows, ankles, knees and torso. Were those humans really that desperate to keep him from escaping? Apparently so.

He suddenly drew in a sharp hiss as his head throbbed sharply. Why the hell was he feeling this pain? Why was he tied up? Why was he alone and where was he alone? Or was there someone else here and he just couldn't see them? How long had he been out? Was Edward still unconscious from their little rock incident earlier?

"Stupid humans… I have all these question, but no God damn answers…" he muttered under his breath in a loathsome growl; it was the only thing he could think of to say; all he could think of to answer his questions…everything was due to those stupid humans. Although, he could break free from these ropes after he composed himself; so maybe this wasn't that big of a deal.

Hearing Pride's voice pulled Hawkeye sharply from her private thoughts and she sat up quickly, rubbing her face vigorously once before pushing to stand. She hadn't been able to sleep yet, and the fight through the crash after the drop in adrenaline had been hard. With slightly bleary eyes, she entered the living room turned prison

"Good morning, Pride."

Pride blinked and turned to look at the entrance into the living room. Ah, so there was someone else here, and who better than it to be than that annoying military woman?

"…It had to be you," he muttered, shaking his head before taking a quick glance about, "Where's your boyfriend, hm? That old man you were running around with?" Pride asked, his head canting to the side a bit.

"Yes, it's me. My name is Riza Hawkeye." She stated, ignoring the question about the older man. All she knew was that he wasn't here now, and had been the one to draw the transmutation circle under Pride's chair while she had been tying the homunculus up.

"Your name is just as exciting as your personality…" He remarked, though he wasn't looking at her. Instead, he was eyeing the transmutation circle—or what part of it he could see—that looked to be partially finished underneath his chair. Yes, he was curious about this transmutation circle…it was rather unfortunate that Edward wasn't conscious at the moment; he would like to know what it meant.

Hawkeye's mouth opened to speak a little more, but the sound from behind her stopped the attempt. Pride made a face.

"Lieutenant?"

Turning on her heel, Hawkeye hesitated before offering a small smile to a familiar face. Alphonse Elric.

"Alphonse," she greeted, glancing briefly over her shoulder back toward Pride, who was watching them both with mild interest. Hawkeye heaved a sigh before looking back at the suit of armor. "Brace yourself, you're about to see something you won't understand immediately, but you must trust me."

"Oh, so that's why he isn't here," Pride chimed in, not recognizing the suit of armor, "You're cheating on him with that hunk of metal?" he clicked his tongue, "I'm not sure I like your taste."

Alphonse shifted his head. He could have sworn he had just heard…his brother's voice?

"Ed?" Alphonse moved more into the room, peering around Hawkeye to see his older brother tied up in the center of the room. He hesitated before saying anything. He had been at the Central library when the Lieutenant had sent a message requesting that he came to the General's house. She had said it was urgent, but she had never mentioned anything about his brother being part of why he had to come here. Although he thought it had been odd that he hadn't heard from his brother for the last several hours…

"Why is my brother tied up? He couldn't have done anything that bad!" Oh, his voice was clearly upset, and started to try to move past her. Sure, Edward probably went off, got himself into some kind of trouble with the Colonel and now here he was. But with Alphonse around, the younger Elric was sure he could calm his brother down, or at least reason with him. "What have you done now, Ed?" he sighed, moving over to him.

He sure did look a mess; bloody and disheveled. Like he had just been jumped, or buried under a large pile of books—in Edward's case—but no, there were no real injuries, just the blood that stained his clothes and the skin on his face and neck.

"Brother…" Pride murmured. Ahh… So, Edward Elric has a little brother. "How cute," he mused, smirking as he watched Alphonse come closer. Pride flickered his gaze toward Riza before back at the suit of armor, soon frowning. Why the change? Well, if Alphonse thought he was his older brother, then he would pretend to be his older brother.

Pride cleared his throat before he spoke; his host's voice coming out perfectly, "I was going to go look for you, actually. But Mustang got in my way." He easily lied, humor dancing behind his eyes. This was fun, "Told me I had to return a book to the library before I was arrested or something. Then things just got out of hand." Pride lied, rolling his eyes before looking up at the suit of armor that was now standing in front of him.

Hawkeye's eyes widened before she quickly strode into the transmutation circle and grasped Alphonse's hands, looking up at him pleadingly. "You can't untie him, Alphonse. That isn't Edward—"

"What?"

"You suck."

"—It's a homunculus. If you let him go, bad things will happen."

Pride snorted, "You're making it sound like I'm Pandora's Box or something…"

Hawkeye hardly acknowledged the homunculus, "Please, leave him alone, step back and let me explain," she said calmly, her hands never leaving Alphonse's.

"You know, you are really hurting my feelings, Lieutenant," Pride grumbled, "If it is possible to hate you anymore than I already do then I would."

Hawkeye shot a dark look at the homunculus, "You shut up, Pride; stop playing with his mind."

"Che'…" he snorted and looked elsewhere, his humor had faltered after being told to "shut up".

Alphonse, having been standing in utter confusion while the other two spoke, looked back and forth from Hawkeye to his "brother". The way she was looking at him…

"What? No, that's impossible!" Alphonse shook his head, jerking away from the Lieutenant and taking a few steps back from both of them. "Brother would never have something like that inside him! And look!" Alphonse pointed at his "brother", "He knows the General; a homunculus wouldn't know that!" But even as he said that, he couldn't move. His gaze shifted back to the supposed homunculus. That…couldn't be one of them. It had to be his brother…it had to be. He knew his sibling, in and out, better than anyone, and that meant everyone in the stupid military, too!

Hawkeye shook her head, "Al—"

"No!" he shouted, "I think I would know my own brother and that's him!" his hands curled into fists at his sides, "I want my brother to be untied _now_, we're leaving."

Slowly, a wry grin pulled at the corner of Pride's lips and a dark chuckle emitted from his throat as he closed his eyes, seeming to be enjoying the argument all too much.

"Wow," he mused, opening his eyes to stare up at the ceiling.

Alphonse and Hawkeye both jerked there heads toward the homunculus.

Pride rolled his stiff shoulders, and dropped his chin to look at both of them. "I just think it's funny that Alphonse has no idea how wrong he is."

Hawkeye slowly looked away.

"…What?" Alphonse's anger seemed to vanish. Instead it was replaced with wariness.

He looked at Alphonse with a smirk, "Look at my eyes. Do they look like your brothers?" he asked, "Or do you think I went and changed my eye color to this pretty violet on my own?" he continued, "Seriously, kid… You should really listen to the woman. Even though I detest doing so myself." Pride said casually, glancing at the officer before drifting his gaze back to the suit of armor. When Alphonse said nothing, he cleared his throat and smiled;

"But if it will really help you sleep at night, or whatever it is you do in that body, then go ahead and untie me~" Pride intoned. There was no point in pretending to be Edward. Why he had even wanted to before was stupid; he was better than his host—one-hundred times better—and he certainly didn't want to be lumped into the Elric family. Especially if it meant having a suit of armor as his little brother.

Alphonse didn't move from where he was, though his fingers seemed to uncurl a bit. This…wasn't his brother...

His brother would never say anything like that to him. Maybe if they were fighting, he'd make a remark like, "At least I can sleep", but not a remark like that. It was almost as if the younger Elric was in shock, though it was hard to tell if anyone looked at his body. The white and red hues were gone from his helmet slits, where eyes were supposed to be. He wanted to believe Edward was in there…he had to… His brother couldn't be gone, he couldn't be dead.

Finally, Alphonse turned, his hues fading out from black and into his normal colored hues again, fists curling up. He was glaring at Pride, his fists shaking a bit in rage.

"Where is my brother?" He asked calm tone, though it was full of strict demand. He turned his body to fully face Pride, eyes boring down at him. "Tell me…where he is…now," he reiterated, seeming to forget that Hawkeye was even in the room still.

"Well, if one hand was free…" Pride shot the Lieutenant a dirty look before he softened his visage and looked at Alphonse; he seemed to be taking this all too lightly. "I'd point. But since I am unable to, I'll tell you." Pride said, agitated that he had to. "Your brother isn't dead, for starters. So, no need to be so upset," he tapped his fingers on the arms of the chair, "He's in a safe place, I assure you, stuck in his own mind. He's unconscious right now though, I think. Thankfully, too." Your brother is extremely bothersome when he is awake." Pride complained as he clicked his tongue in disapproval.

Alphonse was enraged. His brother had been taken over by some homunculus, but the sin was right, if he was telling the truth, Edward could be in there somewhere. But if his brother was dead…the thought alone did more than crush Alphonse for those few moments. It completely obliterated him. There was no way in hell he could live without his brother. But if that monster was there…Would he ever "see" Edward again? Unless that thing was out of him, then everything was just...ruined.

Alphonse moved suddenly and quickly to grab the collar of Pride's shirt and lift not only him up, but the chair as well, until they were seeing eye to eye.

Pride was startled, but due to his current situation, there was nothing he could do about Alphonse's actions but scowl. He didn't like being treated like this.

"Wake my brother up _now_ and let me speak to him!" If that were possible… But right now, Alphonse couldn't care less. He needed full proof that his brother was still in there somewhere. And if he couldn't get anything out of the homunculus he'd have to find a way to get Pride out of Edward's body.

Pride grunted, "Sorry, kid, can't do that. You'd be better off leaving a message, I'll make sure he gets it later," he said with a wink. There was no way in Hell he was going to give Edward control of this body.

"How did you get in my brother's body in the first place?" Alphonse demanded, ignoring the sin's earlier response.

"Through the bloodstream, I'd imagine," Pride said dully, really hating being held up like this. "Honestly, I don't know, and I don't care, but I'm sure she—" Pride stopped when he looked to where the Lieutenant had been standing. Where'd she go?

Alphonse's helmet shifted, noticing Hawkeye's absence as well. "She knew?"

The sin snorted, "She was there, so I'd imagine that she knows, genius," he retorted. "Now will you _please_ set me down?"

Alphonse gripped Pride's shirt a little tighter, frustration filling him. For how long had she known this sin was inside Ed? Why hadn't that been the first thing she had told him when she called? Sure, he was bound to find out sometime, that was certain, but this wasn't exactly something to be not mentioned!

For a brief moment, he wondered if beating Pride would knock his brother back into control. It wasn't that Alphonse was scared to hit Pride; he'd hit his brother before, either sparing or they were in arguments that would lead to fist fights. But in this body and how angry he was…he couldn't kill Pride easily, but what about his brother?

"Weather you like it or not… I will get my brother back," he finally replied in a cold whisper as he set Pride back down. That smirk the bastard kept on giving; as much as an asshole his brother was, it wasn't the same kind of smirk. It was the kind of arrogant smirk that everyone hates to see.

Pride let out a grunt when the legs of the chair roughly hit the wooden floor, scraping slightly. He looked up, a small grin on his lips.

"All about your brother…" he mused before continuing, "Aren't glad that your brother is gone? I mean…he's been treating you like a child for all of these years. He's twenty-one and you're what—"

"Twenty."

"—Twenty, right… So, aren't you glad that he isn't bossing you around? Dragging you all over the place while he does his lame job?"

"Shut up…"

Pride parted his lips to continue but stopped himself from provoking the younger Elric any further. He closed his eyes and lifted his shoulders in a small shrug. "Fine, but you know I'm right."

Alphonse grunted and remained where he was for a moment before he suddenly kneeled down. Pushing up Pride's jeans that covered his brother's dented automail leg, he skillfully disconnected the metal from its holding place; untying it from the chair before setting it aside and doing the same with Pride's right arm; which was also partially destroyed. He had seen Winry and his brother take both limbs off a million times; he knew how to do it.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Pride hissed, trying to rock the chair away from the suit of armor. It was a lame attempt to get away.

Alphonse moved to open up his armor and dump his brother's metal limbs inside, and after the clanging stopped as the two items reached the bottom, he spoke, seeming to have ignored Pride's question. "I'll be sure to give these back when Ed is back and you're gone."

The sin let out a feral growl. This kid was beginning to piss him off. "Fine!" he snapped, "But you know, you might be doing your brother a favor anyways with removing all this metal crap. Yes, keeping me from moving, but you know, I was thinking about possibly making your brother's life easier and giving him some new limbs with my regenerative ability…" he suddenly allowed a devilish smirk to cross his lips, a dark gleam in his eye, "It is too bad… But I can see how badly you want to talk with your brother, and quite frankly, I'm tired of listening to your bitching. So…" he chuckled quietly for a moment before he closed his eyes.

Alphonse stilled, "What are you doing?"

"Oh nothing…just calling your brother," he replied quietly before inhaling sharply and shouting, "Edward Elric, come on down!"

Abruptly, the sin's body fell slack; dead weight like it had been earlier against the ropes. Lifeless. Dead. Just nothing…

"…Pride?" Alphonse said warily, unsure if he should reach out and shake him or just wait.

_Wakey, wakey, Edo~ Time for you to shut your brother up._

Suddenly, Edward's body jerked to life. As if he had just surfaced from water, Edward gasped for air and opened his eyes, his chest heaving. Alphonse had jumped slightly, not having expected the rude awakening, but it wasn't joy that he felt when the alchemist looked at him…no, it was…wariness. Was this really his brother, or was Pride pulling his leg?

He moved a little, slowly sitting up. His muscles and bones protested against the action as he sat up straight and lifted his head to look up and meet his younger brother's gaze. If it weren't for the ropes, he was sure that he would've crumbled to the ground.

"…Al?" he breathed, his brows knitting slightly as his visage took on an obvious look of confusion, "What…where the hell am I and…" he dropped his golden hues to stare at the ropes, "Why am I tied up? And my automail?"

Alphonse looked away from his brother just then.

What was up? Why was Edward acting like he had completely no idea what was going on? He should after all—being possessed by Pride especially—but no…he was completely clueless and even in pain. Had Pride honestly let his brother have control again? If he had, did he block out Edward's memory from the point Pride was inserted to now? If that was the case, it meant bad news for all of them…

Alphonse finally gave a bitter snort and moved to fold his arms over his chest plate. "Shut up, you're not getting this automail back. Not until I find a way to get you out of Ed." He snapped.

Edward blinked, taken aback by the resentment in his younger brother's tone. "'Shut up'?" he took a quick glance about, "Al, what the hell are you talking about? Get who out of me?"

Unable to control his temper, Alphonse's head jerked up to look at Edward for a brief second, white and red hues glaring hard into his eyes, not even taking a second to notice the eye color change.

"I hate you," he spat out, venom dripping off his words like it was straight from the snakes fang. "Now just shut up, before I make sure you won't be able to talk again."

"Al! This is ridiculous! I'm _me_. Will you quit acting like this!" he was beginning to get irritated with his brother's lack of trust in him. "I'm—" he stopped suddenly as his head screamed at him to stop with the loud noises with a powerful, and painful throb that made the alchemist think his head was about to burst. He grimaced, hesitating before he continued. He felt strange…just not himself…and his head…shut did it hurt. Like someone was pricking his brain with tiny needles. And the fact that he didn't know why he was hurting, or why his brother was pissed, or where he was or—just nothing—frustrated him.

"Al," he began grimly, only to pause once again as the _thump_ of boots grew loud as they descended the stairs, and shortly Hawkeye came into view.

Her head was down; wiping a few bright red spots of what was almost certainly blood from her hand with a white towel, which was now also lightly stained with red. She didn't look up until she was already a few steps within the room. There sat an angry suit of armor facing off a de-limbed and bewildered looking Edward. She blinked through the blonde ends of her bangs and halted.

"What's going on here? Alphonse?"

Edward's eyes widened and both he and Alphonse looked at the officer, "Lieutenant!" they exclaimed, both sounding relieved for the interruption.

The stained towel was dismissively tossed aside on a nearby cabinet and she took a few slow steps closer. "Is Pride trying to manipulate you using Edward as bait? Don't fall for it," she warned softly.

"Pride?" Edward murmured.

"That is Edward, but you can't untie him. Pride is still in there, and he is more dangerous than Lust." For everyone else, that is. The only one in real danger from Lust was herself. She half folded her arms in front of her, pointing casually to the noticeably missing leg while half-turning to Alphonse. "Why are his limbs gone?" in a tone that hinted that although she was curious, she knew she wouldn't like the answer.

"I asked the same thing," Edward grumbled, and looked at his empty right arm socket before back to the Lieutenant.

The helmet shifted upward, looking dully at his brother. Slowly, he accepted the fact that he was in fact standing in front of his brother. But Pride could take over at any moment... But, even though he now knew it was Edward, he seemed to be ignoring him.

"I removed his limbs so if he does manage to get away he won't get far." Not to mention, he couldn't use alchemy with only one arm, not without drawing a transmutation circle first. But he kept that information to himself; there was no way to know if Pride was around to hear it, and he wasn't going to chance letting a homunculus run loose—especially one that bore his brother's face.

Hawkeye nodded; that was a logical enough reason. After a moment of silence, she heaved a sigh and looked at Edward.

"I'm glad to see that you are back though."

Edward wasn't sure how to go about replying to that statement. "Yeah… You both have been calling me 'Pride'—"

Hawkeye glanced at Alphonse before she placed her focus back on Edward with a deeply concerned mien. "You don't remember, Edward?"

He hesitated, "…I remember going with you to an underground city to look for the General…then lights out." He replied, grimacing at the continuing pounding of his head.

"That's a problem," the officer moved to take a knee in front of Edward, facing him, "You were aware until the point Pride took over your body."

At first she remained quiet, as her mind rolled over the implications of the Homunculi being able to change and manipulate their host's mind. Absentmindedly rubbing her right forearm, she didn't seem to realize the lines of slick liquid that ran from elbow to wrist. It was darkening very slowly. Neither Alphonse nor Edward had noticed the change either.

"This happened when we went looking for Mustang, didn't it?" Edward asked slowly, although he knew the answer.

"Yes, it did." She breathed a soft sigh and seemed to straighten more. "Edward, listen to me carefully. You have to guard your mind. There are things we don't want them to know and abilities that must be kept from them. Do you best to block your memories and knowledge from _him_." Somehow she would have to say the same to Mustang and warn him, but it wasn't safe to approach him yet. "Keep Pride busy. Give him false memories. Mix the false memories in with harmless real ones to keep him questioning everything, even if he does get a hold of something real. Make them fantastic experiences and mundane ones. Don't let him gain a foothold, keep him unsure and confused. Please, Edward. This is very important." The entire time she spoke, her eyes remained locked upon his, trying to keep his focus. Hopefully that would decrease the risk of Pride "listening in".

If Pride learned alchemy, especially alchemy of Edward's talent, there would be no way to restrain him or protect anyone from the reach of his potential destruction. Thus why there were details she wasn't able to tell him just yet, lest she give the monster within him ideas. There hadn't been enough time Pride spent alone with his Father to be filled in on all the details of his plan. That was part of why he was being so firmly restrained.

Guard his mind? Block memories and information? What the hell? What could Pride possibly be prowling around in his mind for? Which, honestly, it was really gross thinking that you had something else inside of you—seriously—it was not comforting to know.

"Yeah, I can do that." He assured the Lieutenant

The throbbing was beginning to relent some as Edward began to relax and focus on the other two in the room rather than the fact that he had something hiding in the back of his mind. But just as he began pushing Pride away, the throbbing became merciless once again. It was like Pride knew what the Elric was trying to do.

Hawkeye nodded firmly, "Good," she said, and flashed a smile. With that, Riza pushed herself off the floor and reached out to touch Edward's shoulder in support.

The boy never was affectionate and there was no reason to think he would be more receptive to those little gestures right now, but he had to be frightened on some level. Hopefully he would know that there was someone looking out for him that he could trust. When she pulled her hand away, she noticed a fresh, light trail of blood on Edward's jacket she hadn't noticed before. Her brows furrowed for a brief second. There was no reason for him to be bleeding… She turned her hand over and blinked. A nearly pink smear of blood coated her palm, and as she watched, another thin rivulet of darker red ran down her palm.

Hawkeye snatched her hand in and turned away in hopes no one saw it. Everyone was enduring high levels of stress tonight, and if they found out that Lust—Roy—had injured her, it would only burden them more.

"It's just like with Ling and Greed then?" Alphonse asked finally, after staying silent for several minutes, which in such a tense moment, seemed to last a while. "And what is this about the General?" he asked, having only now just heard small bits and pieces of how his brother had come to be in the condition he was in.

He didn't favor talking or acting when he was upset; mostly acting. Someone would've ended up getting hurt, and right now, there was no one to get mad _for_ him, like there usually was. The armor gave a small sigh, the same question popping into his head; could his brother get his body back? Or would Pride be inside him forever? Greed hadn't been all that bad…he was just, well, greedy. He didn't work for the rest of the homunculi, and since he was greedy, he took care of things that were his, including his friends. Pride, on the other hand, didn't seem a bit interested in anyone but himself. And if a homunculus had someone like Edward at their control, it just spelt bad news. His brother caused enough havoc in the world without Pride inside him.

The officer looked at Edward first before she responded to Alphonse, but she quickly dropped her head down, avoiding his gaze. She could see the battle going on behind them. It was nothing like what Roy was going through, but it was there. Almost as if Edward was haunted. Roy's battle was more obvious and outward. The changes could be quick and sudden, or come with a fight for control in which his eyes would change colors rapidly, or glow with both colors swirled together like marble.

"Yes, Alphonse. Exactly like Ling and Greed, except the General and Edward were not willing." She looked up at the ceiling, gesturing vaguely upward. "General Mustang went missing and Edward and I followed some clues and found him…underground, in a hidden city."

Alphonse looked at his brother, "Why didn't you tell me that you were leaving to go find the General?"

Edward shifted his gaze from Hawkeye to look at his brother when he heard his hurt tone. He could already feel the regret piling up on his shoulders. "Al…" he began, though before he could continue, the front door opened, followed by the sound of foot steps before a familiar face appeared in the living room.

Alphonse was the first to react, "D-Dad?!"

* * *

"What…what did I do?"

The form that was supposed to be Roy Mustang looked down to the clawed form of his hands, crimson tinting his flesh and partially staining the right sleeve of his white shirt.

Blood, it was blood.

But where had it come from? In the struggle, he had slashed himself a few times, but the wounds had healed too fast for there to be few traces of any injuries ever being there. But this, though not a deadly amount, was far too much.

_You attacked her._

That damned voice from within spoke, echoing within his mind like a bell within a church tower. There was no hiding the obvious satisfaction in the intruder's tone, sarcasm flowed of plenty.

_Face it, General; you're losing it, _the voice taunted._ You're losing what you thought was control. You've never had it in this situation. Just let go, it'll be so much easier that way._

An angry growl emitted from Mustang's throat as his fists were slammed into the wall again, making a loud _thud_. The claws dug into the surface and splintered the wood beneath.

"No," he hissed, "I won't allow it. I won't lose anything; not myself, the people around me, all that I've worked for! The only thing I will lose is your annoying presence; you're nothing but a parasite!" Mustang shouted, his claws digging deeper into the wood, leaving gashes along the surface; a scene much like an animal attack rather than the mental battle that was taking place.

"I won't…let you!"

Lust knew the plans that his Father had laid out, so with the merging of minds, Roy had been more exposed. It also didn't help that he had no qualms with hiding what he wanted to do to Riza on top of everything.

_She'll make fine company, no wonder you keep her around_, the voice remained smug, but the sin was fighting as well.

Mustang had regained a bit of strength in the time between the insertion and now, and Lust was beginning to understand why this man had been a potential sacrifice. Instead of shocking Roy, it instead seemed to infuriate him, giving him more strength than previously owned.

"It's not going to happen!"

Then with a harsh mental push, his body tensed, eyes clenching shut and claws threatened to rip the boards from the wall.

* * *

Hohenheim smiled meekly as he carried over a few covered bags, each muffling the clinking of the jars held within them.

"Forgive me for the sudden exit, but I had to make sure I had a few things before I lost the available sources for the night." His expression turned to a kind, yet apologetic image. He seemed to pause then. Something was different and Hohenheim could feel it.

Edward was stunned just like his brother. However, this wasn't a good surprise, this was a terrible shock.

What the hell is he doing here? He had absolutely no business being here! No one invited him!

The still filled bags were gently placed upon the coffee table before he turned and cross the distance between him and Edward. He hesitated there briefly before reaching out and taking a firm hold of his chin, pulling his attention and allowing him to look him in the eyes.

"Edward?"

He gritted his teeth, rage fueling him as he ripped his chin out of his father's grasp before he scowled at him. "What the hell do you think?" he barked before glaring at the brown bags, "You come back and go groceries shopping?" he asked icily, not even looking at the man. He was twenty-one. He hadn't seen Hohenheim since he was eighteen years old…and he was still holding the same grudge he had when Trisha died.

Of course there were biting tones from Edward, it was common as well as expected. And in all honesty, Hohenheim knew he deserved it for the way he had handled things years ago. It had been hard on all of them and especially two growing boys who lost their mother. He hadn't known about her death until it was too late and even then, he hadn't been able to come back. So then, even as he was berated by the eldest of his two, he cast a loving and rather understanding glance that was only possible for someone of his years and experience.

"Groceries? Not exactly," he dropped his hand back down to his side, "More like…supplies."

Edward glanced at Hohenheim out of the corner of his eye, frowning. "Supplies for what?" he murmured.

Hohenheim didn't respond as he stood straight; his back popping. He winced a bit, "I'm getting far too old for this…"

Alphonse couldn't contain his nervous excitement anymore, even though he wanted to chide his brother for being so rude. When would his brother grow up?

"What are you doing here?" he nearly squeaked out, "Not that I'm not happy to see you. J-Just…" Well, just unexpected. No, unexpected was the least amount he could say.

He focused his golden eyes on his youngest, his gaze once more softening. "Alphonse," he glanced at Edward briefly, "Just stopping by to take care of your brother. Just like you have been doing," he chuckled, "I know it's a full time job keeping him out of trouble."

Even after not seeing them for so long, knowing that they were in trouble was something that weighed heavily upon him. If only he had still been there years ago, none of this would have ever happened and his children could potentially be safe and happy in Resembool, or here in Central if they wanted. But in truth, they were far too curious and hungry for knowledge to stay in that one place forever.

From near the couch, the Lieutenant politely cleared her throat to speak. This seemed to be a private moment for the three of them, especially after she knew their history. Hohenheim and she had had plenty of time to walk and talk through the process of getting them all to the General's home.

"Shall I leave you three alone? I can check on the General upstairs."

Hohenheim blinked and turned to face Hawkeye and nod. "Thank you, Lieutenant Hawkeye. I believe we have things under control for now. It will give me time to finish preparing while you do that." He replied while he shrugged out of his coat and draped the fabric over the arm of a cream colored recliner. Approaching the bags once more, he began to roll his sleeves up. "And…thank you for everything else. Not just this." She had helped protect his children; had a hand in their safety from the beginning, and continued even now.

The Lieutenant smiled a little, "Someone has to do it…and thank you for getting us all out of the city," she replied quietly before turning to swiftly leave the three in the living room while she went to go check on the General. There was a reason she didn't say anything more, but she decided to keep that to herself…regardless if it would've been true.

Silence filled the room, save for the shuffling of bags and the soft sound of glass jars being set out on the coffee table. Meanwhile, Edward had dropped his attention to the partially finished array. Frowning, he tilted his head to the side slightly, craning his neck to look more closely at the shapes that made the transmutation circle. After a moment, his eyes widened. He knew what array this was; finished or unfinished.

"Dad," his throat was dry as anxiety began clawing at his chest, making his heart pulse faster, "Did you lose some brain cells wherever the hell you were?" he stuttered, tearing his gaze off of the circle to look at Hohenheim. "You aren't serious about this are you?"

Alphonse now looked at the circle, too, and just like his brother, he recognized the circle instantly.

Human transmutation.

Hohenheim turned around to face Edward. His expression was still soft, especially when he saw the panic in his son's eyes. "Edward—"

"No, this is ridiculous!" Edward interrupted, "Are you really expecting this to wor—ah!"

Well that wasn't what he meant to say…

Immediately Alphonse was right at his brother's side, one gauntlet flat on the floor, the other on the back of the chair, gripping it tight.

"Brother?" It was a childish name he'd always called Edward; he grew out of it over the years, but when something like this was going on… Well, old habits die hard. When he didn't answer, Alphonse looked to Hohenheim for answers. "Dad, what's wrong with Ed?" he demanded, his tone cracking with his panic.

Hohenheim's peaceful visage fell as he looked away from Edward to Alphonse, "It's Pride," he replied, "he's trying to take back the control of Edward's body."

Pain. It was white hot as it stabbed his brain mercilessly.

His vision went gone black as he cried out in agony. He could feel it…like someone was grabbing onto the back of his shirt and was dragging him back into the confinements of his mind.

_Damn it, Pride!_

He was fighting, and fighting hard, but with one ruthless yank, he felt himself loose control of his own body.

And as he laid down on the nothingness of his mind, dazed and weak once again, he could hear Pride's voice echo around him.

_Sorry, kid, time's up…_

There was one last sharp cry—as if someone had stabbed him—Edward's body fell slack just like it had before against the ropes. And after a few silent moments passed, his body slowly came back to life.

The mental battle was over, and as he lifted his head and opened his eyes, the rich violet of his irises was enough to tell who the winner was.

"Sorry, I'm not the type for sentimental moments," Pride mused sourly before he shifted his cat-like eyes to Alphonse, who was still next to him. "Oh, good to see you again."

Alphonse stiffened before he suddenly jumped back from the sin, both of his metal hands curled into fists. Already he could feel his hate for Pride returning.

The sin grunted. For a moment he neither said nor did anything, but slowly, he brought his attention to Hohenheim. His expression…it wasn't happy.

"Your son is incredibly useful in situations like these," he continued, "His memories; knowledge and insight are just too fascinating to pass up. But, luckily I didn't even have to search that hard to figure out what this circle means." Pride tapped his shoe against the wood floor, "Because Edward saw it and thought about it impulsively—dumb move—that informed me right away what all this mess meant.

"What surprises me is that you even want to pull off a human transmutation… After what your boys went through to try and resurrect their mother…" he clicked his tongue, "And all these memories your son has about you being such a wonderful daddy! Oh, he's just reeling inside right now just thinking about the fact that his so called 'father' could possibly be killing him right here, today, at this hour…" Pride's expression became just a bit more serious, "He would respect and trust your judgment more had you just done a better job as a parent, you know."

Hohenheim's golden eyes narrowed. Pride was talking to deaf ears. He had already accepted these verbal lashings once before…he was immune to them now. However, Alphonse didn't feel the same.

"Who the hell do you think you are? To pick and pry at my brother's life like that!" Alphonse's voice boomed throughout the entire room. He was mad, no, he was enraged!

Pride blinked; he hadn't meant for Alphonse to react so intensely to what he had said.

All at once, Alphonse was suddenly in front of Pride, his left hand gripping Pride's collar while the other arm was cocked back; fist curled and ready to slam right into Pride's face. But no blow came. Alphonse just stood there, Pride right in his grasp and from what anyone could tell, defenseless, yet he couldn't hit him… Pride was the second to notice Alphonse's hesitant behavior.

"Aw," he smirked, "What's wrong? Can't hit your big brother?"

Alphonse didn't respond, but his grip loosened as his fist and arm began to fall back down to its side. But just before he completely released the sin, his fist flew forward and slammed into Pride's right cheek.

The action was rewarded with a loud _pop_ as Pride's jaw was punched out of place and whiplash stung the right side of his neck from his head being jerked so suddenly like that.

Pride was dazed from the blow; he was still only several hours old and was trying to grasp everything he could do, such as regenerating, and it was happening slowly with this new injury that also left a pretty, bloody gash on his right cheekbone.

The only joy Pride got out of this was Edward howling inside from his younger brother's actions that the sin had provoked.

Alphonse had finally released Pride and moved to stand a few feet away with his back to both Edward and his father.

"Dad…" his voice shook, laden with sulfur, "Get that _thing _out of brother."

Pride groaned after he popped his jaw back into place with one swift slide of his jaw back to the right before he spoke.

"It won't work!" Pride hissed, spitting blood out of his mouth as a rich, dark crimson oozed out of the gash in his cheek, down the side of his face and neck, "You _will _kill him! Even if everything is set up correctly," He looked at Hohenheim, "You will _literally_ rip your son apart trying to split us." Pride warned, gritting his teeth, "Is that a risk you are willing to take? A mistake you want to live with for the rest of your life after you've already made so many?" he nearly shouted, still trying to get over the fact that Alphonse—someone who probably had Gandhi as their role model—punched the shit out of his face with just one blow.

Silence filled the room. It was thick with static…all the animosity and anxiousness was overwhelming. However, the feeling didn't bring about Hohenheim's answer any quicker, but when it finally did come; Pride only found his simple response foreboding.

"Well..." he scratched the top of his head, "Edward would probably rather let that happen than let a homunculus run free with his body…be controlled by it. But you tell me; you're the 'Edward' here."

* * *

**Authors note:** OHMYGOSH. This was a long one. xD Hope you enjoyed, cause I really enjoyed this chapter.

Leave comments, you make not only me, but the four of us that work on this so hard for you all super de duper happy.

xD


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